Biochemical Effects of Carbohydrate Supplementation in a Simulated Competition of Short Terrestrial Duathlon

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the biochemical effects of carbohydrate supplementation in a simulated competition of short terrestrial duathlon. Ten duathletes participated in a simulated competition of short terrestrial duathlon 30 minutes after the ingestion of a 6% (30 g/500 ml) maltodextrin solution (MALT) or a placebo (PLA). This solution was also ingested every 15 minutes during the competition (12 g/200 ml); and immediately after the competition (18 g/300 ml). Samples of blood were collected at 3 time points: 1) at rest 1 hour before the beginning of the competition; 2) during the competition (approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes after the 1st collection); 3) immediately after the competition. Blood was analyzed for blood glucose, lactate, insulin and cortisol. Significant differences were observed in relation to blood glucose levels between MALT and PLA in the post-competition phase. There was also a significant difference in the lactate levels observed between MALT and PLA during the competition phase. Similarly, a significant difference in the cortisol concentrations during and after the competition phases (MALT and PLA) were observed. We conclude that maltodextrin supplementation appears to be beneficial during short terrestrial duathlon competition as evidenced by biochemical markers

The Role of Bile in the Regulation of Exocrine Pancreatic Secretion

As early as 1926 Mellanby (1) was able to show that introduction of bile into the duodenum of anesthetized cats produces a copious flow of pancreatic juice. In conscious dogs, Ivy & Lueth (2) reported, bile is only a weak stimulant of pancreatic secretion. Diversion of bile from the duodenum, however, did not influence pancreatic volume secretion stimulated by a meal (3,4). Moreover, Thomas & Crider (5) observed that bile not only failed to stimulate the secretion of pancreatic juice but also abolished the pancreatic response to intraduodenally administered peptone or soap

Radiolabeled CCK/gastrin peptides for imaging and therapy of CCK2 receptor-expressing tumors

Cholecystokinin (CCK) receptors are overexpressed in numerous human cancers, like medullary thyroid carcinomas, small cell lung cancers and stromal ovarian cancers. The specific receptor-binding property of the endogenous ligands for these receptors can be exploited by labeling peptides with a radionuclide and using these as carriers to guide the radioactivity to the tissues that express the receptors. In this way, tumors can be visualized using positron emission tomography and single photon emission computed tomography imaging. A variety of radiolabeled CCK/gastrin-related peptides has been synthesized and characterized for imaging. All peptides have the C-terminal CCK receptor-binding tetrapeptide sequence Trp-Met-Asp-Phe-NH2 in common or derivatives thereof. This review focuses on the development and application of radiolabeled CCK/gastrin peptides for radionuclide imaging and radionuclide therapy of tumors expressing CCK receptors. We discuss both preclinical studies as well as clinical studies with CCK and gastrin peptides

Role of the gap junctions in the contractile response to agonists in pulmonary artery from two rat models of pulmonary hypertension

International audienceBackground: Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is characterized by arterial vascular remodelling and alteration in vascular reactivity. Since gap junctions are formed with proteins named connexins (Cx) and contribute to vasoreactivity, we investigated both expression and role of Cx in the pulmonary arterial vasoreactivity in two rat models of PH. Methods: Intrapulmonary arteries (IPA) were isolated from normoxic rats (N), rats exposed to chronic hypoxia (CH) or treated with monocrotaline (MCT). RT-PCR, Western Blot and immunofluorescent labelling were used to study the Cx expression. The role of Cx in arterial reactivity was assessed by using isometric contraction and specific gap junction blockers. Contractile responses were induced by agonists already known to be involved in PH, namely serotonin, endothelin-1 and phenylephrine. Results: Cx 37, 40 and 43 were expressed in all rat models and Cx43 was increased in CH rats. In IPA from N rats only, the contraction to serotonin was decreased after treatment with 37-43Gap27, a specific Cx-mimetic peptide blocker of Cx 37 and 43. The contraction to endothelin-1 was unchanged after incubation with 40Gap27 (a specific blocker of Cx 40) or 37-43Gap27 in N, CH and MCT rats. In contrast, the contraction to phenylephrine was decreased by 40Gap27 or 37-43Gap27 in CH and MCT rats. Moreover, the contractile sensitivity to high potassium solutions was increased in CH rats and this hypersensitivity was reversed following 37-43Gap27 incubation. Conclusion: Altogether, Cx 37, 40 and 43 are differently expressed and involved in the vasoreactivity to various stimuli in IPA from different rat models. These data may help to understand alterations of pulmonary arterial reactivity observed in PH and to improve the development of innovative therapies according to PH aetiology

Protein and Overtraining: Potential Applications for Free-Living Athletes

Despite a more than adequate protein intake in the general population, athletes have special needs and situations that bring it to the forefront. Overtraining is one example. Hard-training athletes are different from sedentary persons from the sub-cellular to whole-organism level. Moreover, competitive, "free-living" (less-monitored) athletes often encounter negative energy balance, sub-optimal dietary variety, injuries, endocrine exacerbations and immune depression. These factors, coupled with "two-a-day" practices and in-season demands require that protein not be dismissed as automatically adequate or worse, deleterious to health. When applying research to practice settings, one should consider methodological aspects such as population specificity and control variables such as energy balance. This review will address data pertinent to the topic of athletic protein needs, particularly from a standpoint of overtraining and soft tissue recovery. Research-driven strategies for adjusting nutrition and exercise assessments will be offered for consideration. Potentially helpful nutrition interventions for preventing and treating training complications will also be presented

Klf15 Is Critical for the Development and Differentiation of Drosophila Nephrocytes

Insect nephrocytes are highly endocytic scavenger cells that represent the only invertebrate model for the study of human kidney podocytes. Despite their importance, nephrocyte development is largely uncharacterised. This work tested whether the insect ortholog of mammalian Kidney Krüppel-Like Factor (Klf15), a transcription factor required for mammalian podocyte differentiation, was required for insect nephrocyte development. It was found that expression of Drosophila Klf15 (dKlf15, previously known as Bteb2) was restricted to the only two nephrocyte populations in Drosophila, the garland cells and pericardial nephrocytes. Loss of dKlf15 function led to attrition of both nephrocyte populations and sensitised larvae to the xenotoxin silver nitrate. Although pericardial nephrocytes in dKlf15 loss of function mutants were specified during embryogenesis, they failed to express the slit diaphragm gene sticks and stones and did not form slit diaphragms. Conditional silencing of dKlf15 in adults led to reduced surface expression of the endocytic receptor Amnionless and loss of in vivo scavenger function. Over-expression of dKlf15 increased nephrocyte numbers and rescued age-dependent decline in nephrocyte function. The data place dKlf15 upstream of sns and Amnionless in a nephrocyte-restricted differentiation pathway and suggest dKlf15 expression is both necessary and sufficient to sustain nephrocyte differentiation. These findings explain the physiological relevance of dKlf15 in Drosophila and imply that the role of KLF15 in human podocytes is evolutionarily conserve

Radiolabelled peptides for oncological diagnosis

Radiolabelled receptor-binding peptides targeting receptors (over)expressed on tumour cells are widely under investigation for tumour diagnosis and therapy. The concept of using radiolabelled receptor-binding peptides to target receptor-expressing tissues in vivo has stimulated a large body of research in nuclear medicine. The 111In-labelled somatostatin analogue octreotide (OctreoScan™) is the most successful radiopeptide for tumour imaging, and was the first to be approved for diagnostic use. Based on the success of these studies, other receptor-targeting peptides such as cholecystokinin/gastrin analogues, glucagon-like peptide-1, bombesin (BN), chemokine receptor CXCR4 targeting peptides, and RGD peptides are currently under development or undergoing clinical trials. In this review, we discuss some of these peptides and their analogues, with regard to their potential for radionuclide imaging of tumours

Environmental risk factors for dementia: a systematic review

Background - Dementia risk reduction is a major and growing public health priority. While certain modifiable risk factors for dementia have been identified, there remains a substantial proportion of unexplained risk. There is evidence that environmental risk factors may explain some of this risk. Thus, we present the first comprehensive systematic review of environmental risk factors for dementia. Methods - We searched the PubMed and Web of Science databases from their inception to January 2016, bibliographies of review articles, and articles related to publically available environmental data. Articles were included if they examined the association between an environmental risk factor and dementia. Studies with another outcome (for example, cognition), a physiological measure of the exposure, case studies, animal studies, and studies of nutrition were excluded. Data were extracted from individual studies which were, in turn, appraised for methodological quality. The strength and consistency of the overall evidence for each risk factor identified was assessed. Results - We screened 4784 studies and included 60 in the review. Risk factors were considered in six categories: air quality, toxic heavy metals, other metals, other trace elements, occupational-related exposures, and miscellaneous environmental factors. Few studies took a life course approach. There is at least moderate evidence implicating the following risk factors: air pollution; aluminium; silicon; selenium; pesticides; vitamin D deficiency; and electric and magnetic fields. Conclusions - Studies varied widely in size and quality and therefore we must be circumspect in our conclusions. Nevertheless, this extensive review suggests that future research could focus on a short list of environmental risk factors for dementia. Furthermore, further robust, longitudinal studies with repeated measures of environmental exposures are required to confirm these associations

Intra-abdominal pressure in patients with abdominal trauma

Objetivos: Pacientes com trauma abdominal tratados cirurgicamente são muito suscetíveis ao desenvolvimento de hipertensão intra-abdominal e síndrome do compartimento abdominal, cujo diagnóstico é baseado na medição da pressão intraabdominal associada a parâmetros clínicos. Este estudo teve por objetivos avaliar prospectivamente o comportamento da pressão intra-abdominal de pacientes com trauma abdominal cirurgicamente tratados e identificar se há relação entre tal comportamento e parâmetros clínicos destes pacientes. Método: A técnica de Kron foi utilizada para medir a pressão intra-abdominal. A casuística foi composta por 17 homens e três mulheres com média de idade de 36,9 anos (D.P. 12,943). O mecanismo de trauma mais freqüente foi contusão abdominal 12 (60%) contra oito (40%) pacientes com ferimentos penetrantes. Os dados foram coletados em 6 e 18 horas de pós-operatório. Resultados: As médias de pressão intra-abdominal foram 10,4 cmH2O (D.P. 3,939) em 6 horas e 10,263 cmH2O (D.P. 3,445) em 18 horas de pós operatório. A análise dos resultados mostrou correlação estatisticamente significante entre o volume de colóides infundidos e a pressão intra-abdominal em 6 e 18 horas pós-operatórias (p = 0,0380 e p = 0,0033 respectivamente). É provável que tal correlação se deva ao edema visceral causado pelo extravasamento capilar de soluções, aumentando a pressão intra-abdominal. Conclusões: Os achados deste estudo ratificam a idéia de relação entre grandes volumes de infusão venosa, sobretudo colóides, e o aumento da pressão intra-abdominal e destacam a importância da avaliação da pressão intra-abdominal em pacientes com trauma abdominal submetidos a grandes reposições volêmicas, sobretudo as soluções coloidais. _________________________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACT: Bacjground: Patients with significant abdominal traumatism submitted to surgical treatment are susceptible to develop intra-abdominal hypertension and abdominal compartment syndrome. Those diagnosis are based on intra-abdominal pressure measurement associated with clinical parameters. The aims of this study were: to study prospectively the behavior of intra-abdominal pressure in patients with abdominal trauma submitted to surgical treatment; to identify if there is association between that behavior and clinical parameters. Methods: There were 17 males and three females with an average age of 36.9 years (S.D. 12.9). The data was collected in two times, six and 18 hours in the immediate postoperative period. The averages of intra-abdominal pressures found were 10.4 cmH2O (S.D. 3.9) in the first six hours and 10.3 cmH2O (S.D. 3.5) in 18 hours of postoperative period. Results: There was significant statistical correlation between the volume of infused colloids and intra-abdominal pressure at six and 18 hours of postoperative period (p = 0.0380 and p = 0.0033, respectively). These correlations are probably explained by visceral edema caused by the capillary leak of solutions, increasing intra-abdominal pressure. Conclusions: Our findings confirm the relationship between large volumes of fluid infusion, mainly colloid solutions, and the increase of intra-abdominal pressure and detach the importance of intraabdominal pressure monitorization in patients with abdominal trauma submitted to massive replacement of liquids, mainly when this replacement was done with colloids solutions