Oxidative Stress in Female Athletes Using Combined Oral Contraceptives

Background Oxidative stress in female athletes is understudied. We investigated oxidative stress in sportswomen of different disciplines according to combined oral contraceptive (OC) use and lifestyle/alimentary habits. Methods Italian sportswomen (n\u2009=\u2009144; mean age 23.4\u2009\ub1\u20094.2 years; body mass index 21.2\u2009\ub1\u20092.2 kg m 122; sport activity 9.2\u2009\ub1\u20094.1 h week 121) were analyzed; 48 % were volleyball players, 12.5 % soccer players, 10.4 % track-and-field sports, and followed by other disciplines\u2019 athletes. Oxidative stress was evaluated by free oxygen radical test (FORT) assessing blood hydroperoxides and free oxygen radical defense (FORD) assay evaluating antioxidant capacity in OC users (n\u2009=\u200942) compared to non-OC users. Results Elevated oxidative stress levels ( 65310 FORT units) were found in 92.9 % of OC users and in 23.5 % of non-OC users (crude OR\u2009=\u200942, 95 % CI 12\u2013149, p\u2009<\u20090.001; adjusted OR\u2009=\u200960, 95 % CI 11\u2013322, p\u2009<\u20090.001). Continuous values of hydroperoxides were twofold higher in OC users versus non-OC users (median 484 versus 270 FORT units, p\u2009<\u20090.001) and were inversely related to FORD units in OC users (p\u2009=\u20090.01). Hydroperoxides were not associated with weekly hours of exercise. In OC users, lifestyle/alimentary habits were not correlated to hydroperoxides. In non-OC users only, hydroperoxide values were positively correlated with weight and BMI and inversely correlated with chocolate and fish consumption. Conclusions The markedly elevated oxidative stress we revealed in OC-user athletes could be detrimental to physical activity and elevate cardiovascular risk (as thromboembolism). Further research is needed to extend our results, to clarify the biochemical pathways leading to increased hydroperoxides (mainly lipid peroxides) and reduced antioxidant defense, and to elucidate the potential effects on athletic performance. OC use should be considered when developing gender-focused strategies against oxidative stress

Oxidative Stress in Patients with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus: Is It Affected by a Single Bout of Prolonged Exercise?

Presently, no clear-cut guidelines are available to suggest the more appropriate physical activity for patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus due to paucity of experimental data obtained under patients' usual life conditions. Accordingly, we explored the oxidative stress levels associated with a prolonged moderate intensity, but fatiguing, exercise performed under usual therapy in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus and matched healthy controls. Eight patients (4 men, 4 women; 49\ub111 years; Body Mass Index 25.0\ub13.2 kg\ub7m-2; HbA1c 57\ub110 mmol\ub7mol -1) and 14 controls (8 men, 6 women; 47\ub111 years; Body Mass Index 24.3\ub13.3 kg\ub7m-2) performed a 3-h walk at 30% of their heart rate reserve. Venous blood samples were obtained before and at the end of the exercise for clinical chemistry analysis and antioxidant capacity. Capillary blood samples were taken at the start and thereafter every 30 min to determine lipid peroxidation. Patients showed higher oxidative stress values as compared to controls (95.9\ub19.7 vs. 74.1\ub112.2 mg\ub7L -1 H2O2; p<0.001). In both groups, oxidative stress remained constant throughout the exercise (p = NS), while oxidative defence increased significantly at the end of exercise (p<0.02) from 1.16\ub10.13 to 1.19\ub10.10 mmol\ub7L-1 Trolox in patients and from 1.09\ub10.21 to 1.22\ub10.14 mmol\ub7L -1 Trolox in controls, without any significant difference between the two groups. Oxidative stress was positively correlated to HbA1c (p<0.005) and negatively related with uric acid (p<0.005). In conclusion, we were the first to evaluate the oxidative stress in patients with type 1 diabetes exercising under their usual life conditions (i.e. usual therapy and diet). Specifically, we found that the oxidative stress was not exacerbated due to a single bout of prolonged moderate intensity aerobic exercise, a condition simulating several outdoor leisure time physical activities. Oxidative defence increased in both patients and controls, suggesting beneficial effects of prolonged aerobic fatiguing exercis

Circular Dichroism as a Tool of Investigation in the B-Z Transition of DNA

Some useful CD applications aiming to investigate the B-Z conformational change in nucleic acids as well as their inter actions with a ruthenium complex of potential terapeutic interest are described in this paper. The results presented here regard: a) the energetics of the conformational transition from the B right-handed to the Z left-handed helix in synthetic oligodeoxynucleotides with a cytosine-guanine alternating sequence; b) The B to Z transition for sequences containing all four canonical bases and the role of nickel ions and sodium perchlorate in promoting this tranformation; c) the inter action of Ru(II)(DMSO)4CI2a. compound exhibiting a good antitumor activity in animals, with both mononucleosides and polynucleotides

BsmI (rs1544410) and FokI (rs2228570) vitamin D receptor polymorphisms, smoking, and body mass index as risk factors of cutaneous malignant melanoma in northeast Italy

Objective: To investigate whether vitamin D receptor gene (VDR) BsmI-rs1544410 and FokI-rs2228570 polymorphisms, smoking duration, and body mass index (BMI) are risk factors for cutaneous melanoma, especially metastatic melanoma. Methods: We studied 120 cutaneous melanoma cases [68 stage I and II non-metastatic melanoma (NMetM) patients, plus 52 Stage III and IV metastatic melanoma (MetM) patients], and 120 matching healthy controls from northeast Italy. VDR polymorphisms were measured by restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. Absence or presence of BsmI and FokI restriction sites was denoted by \u201cB\u201d and \u201cF\u201d or by \u201cb\u201d and \u201cf,\u201d respectively. Results: VDR-BsmI bb genotype was more frequent among MetM (32.7%) than among NMetM cases (13.2%), with odds ratio (OR)=3.18. Comparison of all melanoma patients vs healthy controls showed that the following biomarkers were at risk: 6520 years of smoking (OR=2.43); 6520 years of smoking combined with bb (OR=4.78), Bb+bb (OR=2.30), Ff (OR=3.04), and Ff+ff (OR=3.08); obesity (BMI>30 kg/m2 ) alone (OR=3.54); and obesity combined with Bb+bb (OR=3.52), Ff (OR=4.78), and Ff+ff (OR=6.56). Comparison of MetM vs NMetM patients revealed that the following biomarkers were at risk: 6520 years of smoking (OR=2.39), 6520 years of smoking combined with bb (OR=5.13), Bb+bb (OR=3.07), and Ff+ff (OR=2.66); and obesity combined with Bb+bb (OR=5.27), Ff (OR=6.28), and Ff+ff (OR=9.18). Triple combination of 6520 years of smoking, obesity, and Bb+bb yielded OR=9.65 for melanoma patients vs healthy controls and OR=12.2 for MetM vs. NMetM patients. Conclusions: Risk factors for cutaneous MetM include two VDR polymorphisms combined with smoking duration and obesity. Results suggest gene-environment implications in melanoma susceptibility and severity. Future studies in larger cohorts and in subjects with different genetic background are warranted to extend our findings

Interleukin 1 receptor antagonist gene variable number of tandem repeats polymorphism and cutaneous melanoma

Immunity and cytokines serve crucial roles in cutaneous melanoma. The present study investigated whether a variable number tandem repeat (VNTR) polymorphism of interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1RA) gene (IL-1RN) located in intron 2 (rs2234663) is associated with cutaneous melanoma. A total of 515 subjects were studied, 133 of which were cutaneous melanoma cases (72 stage I+II non-metastatic melanoma cases and 61 stage III+IV metastatic melanoma cases), and 382 subjects were matching healthy controls from the Friuli-Venezia-Giulia Region located in Northeast Italy, an area with a high melanoma incidence. The IL-1RN-VNTR polymorphism was determined by DNA fragment length analysis following PCR amplification. According to the number of 86-bp repeats, five different IL-1RN alleles were identified: Allele 1 (4-repeats), allele 2 (2-repeats, short allele), allele 3 (5-repeats), allele 4 (3-repeats) and allele 5 (6-repeats). Alleles with three or more 86-bp repeats, i.e. allele 1, 3, 4 and 5 were collectively denoted as long (L) repeats. The present study revealed that IL-1RN-VNTR 1/2 and 2/L genotypes were more frequent among patients with cutaneous melanoma (43.6 and 45.1%, respectively) compared with healthy controls [29.6 and 30.6%, respectively; odds ratio (OR), 1.84; CI, 1.22-2.77; P=0.003; and OR, 1.66; CI, 1.24-2.79; P=0.002, respectively]. Conversely, the IL-1RN-VNTR 1/1 genotype was less frequent among melanoma cases (45.9%) compared with healthy controls (57.9%; OR, 0.62; CI, 0.41-0.92; P=0.017). Comparison of metastatic vs. non-metastatic melanoma cases identified no significant differences. The present study first demonstrated that carriage of the 1/1 IL-1RN-VNTR genotype was protective, whereas 1/2 and 2/L was a risk factor for patients with cutaneous melanoma vs. healthy controls. The short allele 2 was associated with higher expression levels of IL-1RA, a potent competitive inhibitor of the proinflammatory cytokines IL-1\u3b1 and IL-1\u3b2. VNTR-IL-1RN polymorphism may affect susceptibility to melanoma and, thus, it is a potential novel diagnostic biomarker for melanoma. The present study increased the understanding of genetic melanoma susceptibility/carcinogenesis, and may indicate novel strategies in the personalized prevention of cutaneous melanoma

Association of interleukin-1 beta and interleukin-1 receptor antagonist polymorphisms with bacterial vaginosis in non-pregnant Italian women

Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is the most prevalent alteration of vaginal microflora worldwide. BV is a polymicrobial disorder, and its etiology is elusive. Factors predisposing to this recurrent condition are not fully characterized. We aimed to investigate whether interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta) and IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra) polymorphisms are associated with BV in non-pregnant white Italian women. Genomic DNA was obtained from 164 BV positive, and 406 control women. Two diallelic polymorphisms in the IL-1beta gene (IL-1B) representing C/T base transitions at - 511 and + 3954 positions and a variable number tandem repeats (VNTR) in intron 2 of the IL-1ra gene (IL-1RN) were assessed. We demonstrated that women who were homozygous for - 511 CC or + 3954 TT of the IL-1B gene were at increased risk for BV with an odds ratio (OR) = 1.5 [95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.03-2.14, P = 0.032], and OR = 2.8 (95% CI = 1.37-5.88, P = 0.004), respectively. The haplotype - 511/ + 3954 T-C was protective for BV, with an OR = 0.7 (95% CI = 0.49-0.90, P = 0.009). The IL-1RN VNTR genotype was not associated with BV, although the rare allele 3 showed a trend towards protection (P = 0.049). These data show that host genetic variants at the IL-1beta locus predispose to BV among Caucasian non-pregnant women. Further studies will determine whether these genetic polymorphisms modulate the risk for BV recurrence, and/or BV associated severe adverse outcomes as preterm birth and human immunodeficiency virus transmission

Circular Dichroism as a Tool of Investigation in the B-Z Transition of DNA

Some useful CD applications aiming to investigate the B-Z conformational change in nucleic acids as well as their inter actions with a ruthenium complex of potential terapeutic interest are described in this paper. The results presented here regard: a) the energetics of the conformational transition from the B right-handed to the Z left-handed helix in synthetic oligodeoxynucleotides with a cytosine-guanine alternating sequence; b) The B to Z transition for sequences containing all four canonical bases and the role of nickel ions and sodium perchlorate in promoting this tranformation; c) the inter action of Ru(II)(DMSO)4CI2a. compound exhibiting a good antitumor activity in animals, with both mononucleosides and polynucleotides

Low back pain and FokI (rs2228570) polymorphism of vitamin D receptor in athletes

Background: Low back pain (LBP) is common in athletes. LBP can be detrimental to athletic performance and health. Factors predisposing to LBP in athletes remain elusive and require further studies. We investigated whether carriage of a specific genotype and/or allele of vitamin D receptor gene (VDR) FokI polymorphism (rs2228570) was a risk factor for LBP in athletes of different sports disciplines. Methods: This genotype/phenotype association case-control study included 60 Italian athletes (25 females and 35 males; mean age 33.9 \ub1 13.3 years; body-mass-index 23.5 \ub1 3.5 kg/m2) of which 16.7% were swimmers, 11. 7% soccer players, 11.7% volleyball players, 10.0% rugby players and other disciplines. VDR-FokI polymorphism was measured by PCR-RFLP in 24 athletes with LBP and 36 athletes without LBP episodes. Absence or presence of the FokI restriction site was denoted \u201cF\u201d and \u201cf\u201d, respectively. Other risk factors were evaluated by a questionnaire. Results: The homozygous FF genotype was found in 58.3% (14/24) of athletes with LBP versus 27.8% (10/36) of athletes without LBP, adjusted OR = 5.78, 95% CI 1.41\u201323.8, P = 0.015. The F allele was a 2-fold risk factor to develop LBP, adjusted OR = 2.55, 95% CI 1.02\u20136.43, P = 0.046, while f allele was protective. Exposure to vehicle vibrations 652 h daily, and family history of lumbar spine pathology were significant risk factors for LBP with OR=3.54, and OR=9.21, respectively. Conclusions: This is the first study in which an association between VDR-FokI polymorphism and LBP in athletes was found. Further research is needed to extend our results, and to clarify the biochemical pathways associated with how vitamin D modulates LBP in athletes. The VDR-FokI polymorphism should be considered when developing genetic focused studies of precision medicine on health in athletes

Androgen Receptor (AR) Gene (CAG)n and (GGN)n Length Polymorphisms and Symptoms in Young Males With Long-Lasting Adverse Effects After Finasteride Use Against Androgenic Alopecia

INTRODUCTION: Long-term adverse symptoms of men who used oral finasteride against androgenic alopecia have been recently described as post-finasteride syndrome (PFS). AIM: To determine whether (CAG)n-rs4045402 and (GGN)n-rs3138869 polymorphisms in the androgen receptor (AR) gene are implicated in PFS. METHODS: AR polymorphisms were studied according to PFS symptoms in 66 white participants (31.8% Italian, 28.8% American, and 39.4% other). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Symptoms were investigated by an ad hoc 100-item questionnaire and the Arizona Sexual Experience Scale and Aging Male Symptom Scale (AMS). (CAG)n and (GGN)n repeats were categorized as short ([CAG]9-19, [GGN]23). RESULTS: Median age was 32 years, duration of finasteride use was 360 days, and time from finasteride discontinuation was 1,053 days. We observed several frequency differences in symptoms according to (CAG)n and (GGN)n repeat numbers. Three AMS items were worse for medium (GGN)23 than for long (GGN)>23 carriers and one item was worse for short (GGN)2 kg), increased skin dryness, and onset of symptoms after finasteride use. CONCLUSION: This study showed that short and/or long (CAG)n and (GGN)n repeats had different frequencies according to symptoms reported by patients with PFS, likely reflecting the vast array of genes modulated by the AR. This study showed a U-curvilinear profile of (CAG)n repeats for skin dryness symptoms, where the two extremes exhibited a worse condition than medium repeats. Further studies are necessary to investigate the PFS pathophysiology using a precision medicine approach