Whole-blood transcriptome analysis reveals distinct gene expression signatures in paediatric patients with sickle cell anaemia before and after exercise.

Sickle cell anaemia (SCA) patients display elevated levels of circulating pro-inflammatory cytokines and endothelial activation markers compared to healthy peers. The impact of exercise on the pro-inflammatory state in SCA remains unclear. This study aimed to characterize the whole-blood transcriptome profile in response to an acute bout of exercise in paediatric SCA patients.

Exercise Training Attenuates the Muscle Mitochondria Genomic Response to Bed Rest.

Purpose: Exercise training during the National Aeronautics and Space Administration 70-d bed rest study effectively counteracted the decline in aerobic capacity, muscle mass, strength, and endurance. We aimed to characterize the genomic response of the participants' vastus lateralis on day 64 of bed rest with and without exercise countermeasures.

Methods: Twenty-two healthy young males were randomized into three groups: 1) bed rest only ( n = 7), 2) bed rest + aerobic (6 d·wk -1 ) and resistance training (3 d·wk -1 ) on standard equipment ( n = 7), and 3) bed rest + aerobic and resistance training using a flywheel device ( n = 8).

Molecular Transducers of Physical Activity Consortium (MoTrPAC): human studies design and protocol.

Physical activity, including structured exercise, is associated with favorable health-related chronic disease outcomes. Although there is evidence of various molecular pathways that affect these responses, a comprehensive molecular map of these molecular responses to exercise has not been developed. The Molecular Transducers of Physical Activity Consortium (MoTrPAC) is a multicenter study designed to isolate the effects of structured exercise training on the molecular mechanisms underlying the health benefits of exercise and physical activity.

Genetic Factors, Brain Atrophy, and Response to Rehabilitation Therapy After Stroke.

Objective: Patients show substantial differences in response to rehabilitation therapy after stroke. We hypothesized that specific genetic profiles might explain some of this variance and, secondarily, that genetic factors are related to cerebral atrophy post-stroke.

Methods: The phase 3 ICARE study examined response to motor rehabilitation therapies.

Effects of cold water immersion on circulating inflammatory markers at the Kona Ironman World Championship.

Cold water immersion (CWI) purportedly reduces inflammation and improves muscle recovery after exercise, yet its effectiveness in specific contexts (ultraendurance) remains unclear. Thus, our aim was to study hematological profiles, systemic inflammation, and muscle damage responses to a specific post-race CWI (vs. control) during recovery after the Ironman World Championship, a culmination of ∼100 000 athletes competing in global qualifying Ironman events each year.

Regulation of myosin heavy chain antisense long noncoding RNA in human vastus lateralis in response to exercise training.

Alterations to muscle activity or loading state can induce changes in expression of myosin heavy chain (MHC). For example, sedentary individuals that initiate exercise training can induce a pronounced shift from IIx to IIa MHC. We sought to examine the regulatory response of MHC RNA in human subjects in response to exercise training.

Body composition and neuromotor development in the year after NICU discharge in premature infants.

Background: Hypothesis: neuromotor development correlates to body composition over the first year of life in prematurely born infants and can be influenced by enhancing motor activity.

Methods: Forty-six female and 53 male infants [27 ± 1.8 (sd) weeks] randomized to comparison or exercise group (caregiver provided 15-20 min daily of developmentally appropriate motor activities) completed the year-long study.

A Six Week Therapeutic Ballet Intervention Improved Gait and Inhibitory Control in Children With Cerebral Palsy-A Pilot Study.

Children with cerebral palsy (CP) have motor impairments that make it challenging for them to participate in standard physical activity (PA) interventions. There is a need to evaluate adapted PA interventions for this population. Dance can promote coordination, posture, muscle strength, motor learning, and executive functioning.

Four Months of a School-Based Exercise Program Improved Aerobic Fitness and Clinical Outcomes in a Low-SES Population of Normal Weight and Overweight/Obese Children With Asthma.

Fitness can improve asthma management. However, children from disadvantaged and minority communities generally engage less in physical activity, and have increased obesity and asthma disease burden. The goal of this pilot study is to evaluate (1) the feasibility of an exercise intervention program in a school-based setting (attendance and fitness improvement) and (2) the effect of the intervention on fitness, asthma, and clinical outcomes in normal weight and overweight/obese children with asthma from low-SES population.

Tele-Exercise as a Promising Tool to Promote Exercise in Children With Cystic Fibrosis.

Cross-infection risk from contact exposure limits exercise opportunities in children with cystic fibrosis (CF). The purpose of this study is to evaluate the feasibility of a new live-streamed platform which delivered supervised and interactive group exercise sessions to CF children via digital devices while avoiding contact exposure. Ten CF children participated in a 6-week tele-exercise program.

Triiodothyronine and leptin repletion in humans similarly reverse weight-loss-induced changes in skeletal muscle.

Subjects maintaining a ≥10% dietary weight loss exhibit decreased circulating concentrations of bioactive thyroid hormones and increased skeletal muscle work efficiency largely due to increased expression of more-efficient myosin heavy chain (MHC) isoforms (MHC I) and significantly mediated by the adipocyte-derived hormone leptin. The primary purpose of this study was to examine the effects of triiodothyronine (T) repletion on energy homeostasis and skeletal muscle physiology in weight-reduced subjects and to compare these results with the effects of leptin repletion. Nine healthy in-patients with obesity were studied at usual weight (Wt) and following a 10% dietary weight loss while receiving 5 wk of a placebo (Wt) or T (Wt) in a single-blind crossover design.

A Translational Model of Incomplete Catch-Up Growth: Early-Life Hypoxia and the Effect of Physical Activity.

Advances in therapies have led to prolonged survival from many previously lethal health threats in children, notably among prematurely born babies and those with congenital heart disease. Evidence for catch-up growth is common in these children, but in many cases the adult phenotype is never achieved. A translational animal model is required in which specific tissues can be studied over a reasonable time interval.

Inter- and intra-subject variability of nitric oxide levels in leukocyte subpopulations.

Assessment of nitric oxide (NO) dynamics in immune cells, commonly measured using NO surrogates such as inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) rather than NO itself, has been effective in understanding pathophysiology across a wide range of diseases. Although the intracellular measurement of NO is now feasible, many technical issues remain unresolved. The principle aim of our study was to determine the effect of storage time of whole blood on nitric oxide (NO) level expression in leukocytes.

Glucocorticoid receptor expression on circulating leukocytes in healthy and asthmatic adolescents in response to exercise.

BackgroundPoor aerobic fitness is associated with worsening of asthma symptoms, and fitness training may improve asthma control. The mechanism linking fitness with asthma is not known. We hypothesized that repeated bouts of exercise would lead to a downregulation of glucocorticoid receptor (GR) expression on circulating leukocytes, reflecting a reduced responsiveness to stress.

Glucocorticoid receptor expression on circulating leukocytes differs between healthy male and female adults.

Introduction: The glucocorticoid receptor (GR) is a key receptor involved in inflammatory responses and is influenced by sex steroids. This study measured GR expression on circulating leukocyte subtypes in males and females.

Methods: A total of 23 healthy adults (12 female) participated in this study.

Exercise Responses to Gravity-Independent Flywheel Aerobic and Resistance Training.

Background: Although several exercise systems have been developed to mitigate the physiological deconditioning that occurs in microgravity, few have the capacity to positively impact multiple physiological systems and still meet the volume/mass requirements needed for missions beyond low Earth orbit. The purpose of this study was to test the gravity-independent Multi-Mode Exercise Device (M-MED) for both resistance (RE) and aerobic (AE) training stimuli.

Methods: Eight men and nine women (mean age 22.

Concurrent exercise on a gravity-independent device during simulated microgravity.

Purpose: The objective of this study is to examine the effect of a high-intensity concurrent training program using a single gravity-independent device on maintaining skeletal muscle function and aerobic capacity during short-term unilateral lower limb suspension (ULLS).

Methods: Nineteen subjects (10 males and 9 females; 21.0 ± 2.

Impact of brief exercise on circulating monocyte gene and microRNA expression: implications for atherosclerotic vascular disease.

Physical activity can prevent and/or attenuate atherosclerosis, a disease clearly linked to inflammation. Paradoxically, even brief exercise induces a stress response and increases inflammatory cells like monocytes in the circulation. We hypothesized that exercise would regulate the expression of genes, gene pathways, and microRNAs in monocytes in a way that could limit pro-inflammatory function and drive monocytes to prevent, rather than contribute to, atherosclerosis.

Suction-modified needle biopsy technique for the human soleus muscle.

Introduction: The needle biopsy technique for the soleus muscle is of particular interest because of the muscle's unique fiber type distribution, contractile properties, and sensitivity to unloading. Unlike other commonly biopsied muscles, the soleus is not fully superficial and is in close proximity to neurovascular structures, resulting in a more challenging biopsy. Because of this, a standardized protocol for performing needle biopsies on the human soleus muscle that is safe, reliable, and repeatable is presented.

Alterations in muscle mass and contractile phenotype in response to unloading models: role of transcriptional/pretranslational mechanisms.

Skeletal muscle is the largest organ system in mammalian organisms providing postural control and movement patterns of varying intensity. Through evolution, skeletal muscle fibers have evolved into three phenotype clusters defined as a motor unit which consists of all muscle fibers innervated by a single motoneuron linking varying numbers of fibers of similar phenotype. This fundamental organization of the motor unit reflects the fact that there is a remarkable interdependence of gene regulation between the motoneurons and the muscle mainly via activity-dependent mechanisms.

Growth inhibition and compensation in response to neonatal hypoxia in rats.

Background: Hypoxia (Hx) is an important disease mechanism in prematurity, childhood asthma, and obesity. In children, Hx results in chronic inflammation.

Methods: We investigated the effects of Hx (12% O2) during postnatal days 2-20 in rats.

Impact of brief exercise on peripheral blood NK cell gene and microRNA expression in young adults.

Natural killers (NK) cells are unique innate immune cells that increase up to fivefold in the circulating blood with brief exercise and are known to play a key role in first-response defense against pathogens and cancer immunosurveillance. Whether exercise alters NK cell gene and microRNA (miRNA) expression is not known. Thirteen healthy men (20-29 yr old) performed ten 2-min bouts of cycle ergometer exercise at a constant work equivalent to an average of 77% of maximum O2 consumption interspersed with 1-min rest.

Perforation of the aorta by a rib edge: an unusual complication after chest wall resection.

Thoracic aortic perforation in the context of a minor trauma is extremely rare. In this article, we describe a case of an 80-year-old man who presented with an aortic perforation after a fall from his height during his hospitalization. The patient had previously undergone a left superior lobectomy, a partial chest wall resection, and reconstruction for a locally invasive lung cancer.

Regulation of an antisense RNA with the transition of neonatal to IIb myosin heavy chain during postnatal development and hypothyroidism in rat skeletal muscle.

Postnatal development of fast skeletal muscle is characterized by a transition in expression of myosin heavy chain (MHC) isoforms, from primarily neonatal MHC at birth to primarily IIb MHC in adults, in a tightly coordinated manner. These isoforms are encoded by distinct genes, which are separated by ∼17 kb on rat chromosome 10. The neonatal-to-IIb MHC transition is inhibited by a hypothyroid state.