Effect of Exercise on Appetite-Regulating Hormones in Overweight Women

Over the past decade, our knowledge of how homeostatic systems regulate food intake and body weight has increased with the discovery of circulating peptides such as leptin, acyl ghrelin, des-acyl ghrelin and obestatin. These hormones regulate the appetite and food intake by sending signals to the brain regarding the body\u27s nutritional status. The purpose of this study was to investigate the response of appetite-regulating hormones to exercise. Nine overweight women undertook two 2 h trials in a randomized crossover design. In the exercise trial, subjects ran for 60 min at 50% of maximal oxygen uptake followed by a 60 min rest period. In the control trial, subjects rested for 2 h. Obestatin, acyl ghrelin, des-acyl ghrelin and leptin concentrations were measured at baseline and at 20, 40, 60, 90 and 120 min after baseline. A two-way ANOVA revealed a significant (P \u3c 0.05) interaction effect for leptin and acyl ghrelin. However, changes in obestatin and des-acyl ghrelin concentration were statistically insignificant (P \u3e 0.05). The data indicated that although acute treadmill exercise resulted in a significant change in acyl ghrelin and leptin levels, it had no effect on plasma obestatin and des-acyl ghrelin levels

(99m)Tc-MDP bone SPECT in evaluation of the knee in asymptomatic soccer players

Objective: To evaluate stress fractures in leg (particularly around the knee, tibia, and femur) and knee pathology in active asymptomatic (no symptoms in the preceding month) soccer players. Method: The study included 42 asymptomatic soccer players (21 women, 21 men; age range 19–31 years). Players from seven teams in the major female professional and amateur male soccer leagues were examined by technetium-99m-methylene diphosphonate ((99m)Tc-MDP) bone scintigraphy during the soccer season. Four hours after intravenous injection of 20 mCi (99m)Tc-MDP, standard imaging included anterior planar spot images of the legs, lateral images of the knee, and single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). Results: Although the players were asymptomatic, increased tracer uptake, indicating stress fracture, was found in 28 (66%). Most of the stress fractures were in the tibia (62%) and femur (5%). In the 42 subjects (84 legs), 35 sites (42%) showed rupture of the posterior horn of the lateral meniscus and bone bruising of the tibial plateau, 16 sites (19%) showed rupture of the anterior horn of the medial meniscus, 11 sites (13%) showed bone bruising of the lateral femoral condyle, eight sites (10%) showed bone bruising of the medial femoral condyle, and there was avulsion injury to the infrapatellar tendon insertion in the anterior tibia in 34 sites (40%). There were 11 anterior cruciate ligament injuries. Conclusion: Bone SPECT is very accurate, easy to perform, cost effective, may give valuable information before magnetic resonance imaging studies in the detection of meniscal tears, and may be used successfully when magnetic resonance imaging is unavailable