Decreased functional capacity and muscle strength in elderly women with metabolic syndrome

Denis Cesar Leite Vieira,1 Ramires Alsamir Tibana,1 Vitor Tajra,1 Dahan da Cunha Nascimento,1 Darlan Lopes de Farias,1 Alessandro de Oliveira Silva,1 Tatiane Gomes Teixeira,1 Romulo Maia Carlos Fonseca,2 Ricardo Jacó de Oliveira,2 Felipe Augusto dos Santos Mendes,2 Wagner Rodrigues Martins,2 Silvana Schwerz Funghetto,2 Margo Gomes de Oliveira Karnikowski,2 James Wilfred Navalta,3 Jonato Prestes11Graduate Program on Physical Education, Catholic University of Brasilia, Brasilia, Brazil; 2University of Brasilia, UnB, Brasilia, Brazil; 3Department of Kinesiology and Nutrition Sciences of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV, USAPurpose: To compare the metabolic parameters, flexibility, muscle strength, functional capacity, and lower limb muscle power of elderly women with and without the metabolic syndrome (MetS).Methods: This cross-sectional study included 28 older women divided into two groups: with the MetS (n = 14; 67.3 ± 5.5 years; 67.5 ± 16.7 kg; 1.45 ± 0.35 m; 28.0 ± 7.6 kg/m2), and without the MetS (n = 14; 68.7 ± 5.3 years; 58.2 ± 9.9 kg; 1.55 ± 0.10 m; 24.3 ± 3.8 kg/m2). Body composition was evaluated by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and dynamic muscle strength was assessed by one-maximum repetition (1RM) tests in leg press, bench press and biceps curl exercises. Six-minute walk test, Timed Up and Go (TUG); 30-second sitting-rising; arm curl using a 2-kg dumbbell, sit-and-reach (flexibility), and vertical jump tests were performed.Results: There was no difference between groups regarding age (P = 0.49), height (P = 0.46), body fat (%) (P = 0.19), systolic (P = 0.64), diastolic (P = 0.41) and mean blood pressure (P = 0.86), 30-second sitting-rising (P = 0.57), 30-s arm curl (P = 0.73), leg press 1RM (P = 0.51), bench press 1RM (P = 0.77), and biceps curl 1RM (P = 0.85). However, women without the MetS presented lower body mass (P = 0.001), body mass index (BMI) (P = 0.0001), waist circumference (P = 0.02), waist-to-height ratio (P = 0.02), fat body mass (kg) (P = 0.05), lean body mass (kg) (P = 0.02), blood glucose (P = 0.05), triglycerides (P = 0.03), Z-score for the MetS (P = 0.05), higher high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) (P = 0.002), better performance on TUG (P = 0.01), flexibility (P = 0.03), six-minute walk test (P = 0.04), vertical jump (P = 0.05) and relative muscle strength for leg press (P = 0.03), bench press (P = 0.04) and biceps curl (P = 0.002) exercises as compared to women with the MetS.Conclusion: Elderly women with the MetS have higher metabolic risk profile and lower functional capacity, muscle strength, lower limb power and flexibility as compared to women without the MetS. The evaluation of functional capacity may help to determine the degree of physical decline in older persons with the MetS, while exercise interventions should be encouraged.Keywords: metabolic syndrome, functional capacity, muscle performance, agin

Description of novel microsatellite loci in the Neotropical fish Prochilodus argenteus and cross-amplification in P. costatus and P. lineatus

Prochilodus is one of the most important fish resources of South America, in addition to the important role it plays in nutrient cycling of Neotropical rivers. In the present study, we describe the isolation and characterization of nine novel microsatellite loci in Prochilodus argenteus. The number of alleles per polymorphic locus varied from 5 (Par76) to 21 (Par85), revealing a total of 116 alleles. The values of observed and expected heterozygosities ranged from 0.629 (Par69) to 0.926 (Par85 and Par86) and from 0.643 (Par66) to 0.931 (Par80), respectively. Furthermore, the ability of these and other previously described microsatellite markers to amplify orthologous loci was tested in two related species, Prochilodus costatus and Prochilodus lineatus. These loci will be useful for studies of population genetic structure in this group of fishes, and in aiding future genetic mapping studies of P. argenteus