The relationship between skeletal muscle mass and the KOSHA cardiovascular risk in obese male workers.

Background: Efforts for the prevention and management of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) in workers have been actively pursued. Obesity is one of the important risk factors related to CVDs. Obesity has various metabolic characteristics, and some individuals can be metabolically healthy.

Exercise enhances placental labyrinth trophoblast development by activation of PGC-1α and FNDC5/irisin†.

Placental chorion/labyrinth trophoblasts are energy demanding which is met by the mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation. Exercise enhances placental development and mitochondrial biogenesis, but the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. To address, female C57BL/6 J mice were randomly assigned into two groups: a control group and an exercise (EX) group.

Exercise improves homeostasis of the intestinal epithelium by activation of apelin receptor-AMP-activated protein kinase signalling.

Intestinal remodelling is dynamically regulated by energy metabolism. Exercise is beneficial for gut health, but the specific mechanisms remain poorly understood. Intestine-specific apelin receptor (APJ) knockdown (KD) and wild-type male mice were randomly divided into two subgroups, with/without exercise, to obtain four groups: WT, WT with exercise, APJ KD and APJ KD with exercise.

Association between shift work and serum homocysteine level in female electronic manufacturing services workers.

Background: Shift work has been shown to increase the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) based on several evidences. The classic risk factors of CVD include age, hypertension, smoking, obesity and diabetes. Recently, the serum homocysteine level has been reported to be a valuable indicator of CVD risk.

Stage-specific nutritional management and developmental programming to optimize meat production.

Over the past few decades, genetic selection and refined nutritional management have extensively been used to increase the growth rate and lean meat production of livestock. However, the rapid growth rates of modern breeds are often accompanied by a reduction in intramuscular fat deposition and increased occurrences of muscle abnormalities, impairing meat quality and processing functionality. Early stages of animal development set the long-term growth trajectory of offspring.

AMP-activated protein kinase inhibition in fibro-adipogenic progenitors impairs muscle regeneration and increases fibrosis.

Background: Following muscle injury, fibro-adipogenic progenitors (FAPs) are rapidly activated and undergo apoptosis at the resolution stage, which is required for proper muscle regeneration. When excessive FAPs remain, it contributes to fibrotic and fatty infiltration, impairing muscle recovery. Mechanisms controlling FAP apoptosis remain poorly defined.

Maternal exercise improves epithelial development of fetal intestine by enhancing apelin signaling and oxidative metabolism.

Obesity in pregnancy is currently the leading cause of gestational complications for the mother and fetus worldwide. Maternal obesity (MO), common in western societies, impedes development of intestinal epithelium in the fetuses, which causes disorders in the nutrient absorption and intestine-related immune responses in offspring. Here, using a mouse model of maternal exercise (ME), we found that exercise during pregnancy protects the impairment of fetal intestinal morphometrical formation and epithelial development due to MO.

Flow pattern-dependent mitochondrial dynamics regulates the metabolic profile and inflammatory state of endothelial cells.

Endothelial mitochondria play a pivotal role in maintaining endothelial cell (EC) homeostasis through constantly altering their size, shape, and intracellular localization. Studies show that the disruption of the basal mitochondrial network in EC, forming excess fragmented mitochondria, implicates cardiovascular disease. However, cellular consequences underlying the morphological changes in the endothelial mitochondria under distinctively different, but physiologically occurring, flow patterns (i.

Association between coronavirus disease 2019-related workplace interventions and prevalence of depression and anxiety.

Background: Although coronavirus disease 2019 is causing a variety of psychological problems for workers, there are few longitudinal studies on changes in workers' mental health by workplace intervention. This study aimed to evaluate the change in the prevalence of depression and anxiety according to the active involvement of the workplace.

Methods: This study was conducted on 1,978 workers at a workplace who underwent a health screening from January 2019 to August 2020, and classified depression and anxiety disorders using a self-report questionnaire.

Obesity induces adipose fibrosis and collagen cross-linking through suppressing AMPK and enhancing lysyl oxidase expression.

Collagen is the main component of connective tissue surrounding adipocytes. Collagen cross-linking affects adipose remodeling, which is crucial for maintaining function and metabolic homeostasis of adipose tissue. However, the effects of obesity on collagen cross-linking and adipose fibrosis remain to be examined.

Exerkine apelin reverses obesity-associated placental dysfunction by accelerating mitochondrial biogenesis in mice.

Maternal exercise (ME) protects against adverse effects of maternal obesity (MO) on fetal development. As a cytokine stimulated by exercise, apelin (APN) is elevated due to ME, but its roles in mediating the effects of ME on placental development remain to be defined. Two studies were conducted.

Maternal Exercise Before and During Pregnancy Facilitates Embryonic Myogenesis by Enhancing Thyroid Hormone Signaling.

Maternal exercise (ME) improves fetal and offspring muscle development, but mechanisms remain to be established. Since the thyroid hormone (TH) is critical for cell differentiation during embryonic development, we hypothesized that ME elevates TH receptor (THR) signaling in embryos, which promotes embryonic myogenesis. Female mice were exercised daily on a treadmill or received a daily TH, triiodothyronine (T3) injection.

Maternal exercise intergenerationally drives muscle-based thermogenesis via activation of apelin-AMPK signaling.

Background: Sarcolipin and uncoupling protein 3 (UCP3) mediate muscle-based non-shivering thermogenesis (NST) to improve metabolic homeostasis. The impacts of maternal obesity (MO) and maternal exercise (ME) on NST in offspring muscle remain unexamined.

Methods: Female mice were fed with a control diet or high fat diet to induce obesity.

Distribution of Lung-RADS categories according to job type in a single shipyard workers.

Background: Recently, lung cancer screenings based on age and smoking history using low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) have begun in Korea. This study aimed to evaluate the distribution of lung imaging reporting and data system (Lung-RADS) categories in shipyard workers exposed to lung carcinogens such as nickel, chromium, and welding fumes according to job type, to provide basic data regarding indications for LDCT in shipyard workers.

Methods: This study included 6,326 workers from a single shipyard, who underwent health examinations with LDCT between January 2010 and December 2018.

Prenatal exercise in fetal development: a placental perspective.

Maternal obesity (MO) and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) are common in Western societies, which impair fetal development and predispose offspring to metabolic dysfunction. Placenta is the organ linking the mother to her fetus, and MO suppresses the development of vascular system and expression of nutrient transporters in placenta, thereby affecting fetal development. For maintaining its proper physiological function, placenta is energy demanding, which is met through extensive oxidative phosphorylation.

Embryonic exposure to hyper glucocorticoids suppresses brown fat development and thermogenesis via REDD1.

Maternal stress during pregnancy is prevailing worldwide, which exposes fetuses to intrauterine hyper glucocorticoids (GC), programming offspring to obesity and metabolic diseases. Despite the importance of brown adipose tissue (BAT) in maintaining long-term metabolic health, impacts of prenatal hyper GC on postnatal BAT thermogenesis and underlying regulations remain poorly defined. Pregnant mice were administrated with synthetic GC dexamethasone (DEX) at levels comparable to fetal GC exposure of stressed mothers.

Treadmill Running of Mouse as a Model for Studying Influence of Maternal Exercise on Offspring.

Epidemiological studies robustly show the beneficial effects of maternal exercise in reducing maternal birth complications and improving neonatal outcomes, though underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. To facilitate mechanistic exploration, a protocol for maternal exercise of mice is established, with the regimen following the exercise guidelines for pregnant women. Compared to volunteer wheel running, treadmill running allows precise control of exercise intensity and duration, dramatically reducing variations among individual mouse within treatments and facilitating translation into maternal exercise in humans.

Maternal Inactivity Programs Skeletal Muscle Dysfunction in Offspring Mice by Attenuating Apelin Signaling and Mitochondrial Biogenesis.

Although maternal exercise (ME) becomes increasingly uncommon, the effects of ME on offspring muscle metabolic health remain largely undefined. Maternal mice are subject to daily exercise during pregnancy, which enhances mitochondrial biogenesis during fetal muscle development; this is correlated with higher mitochondrial content and oxidative muscle fibers in offspring muscle and improved endurance capacity. Apelin, an exerkine, is elevated due to ME, and maternal apelin administration mirrors the effect of ME on mitochondrial biogenesis in fetal muscle.

Retinoic acid signalling in fibro/adipogenic progenitors robustly enhances muscle regeneration.

Background: During muscle regeneration, excessive formation of adipogenic and fibrogenic tissues, from their respective fibro/adipogenic progenitors (FAPs), impairs functional recovery. Intrinsic mechanisms controlling the proliferation and differentiation of FAPs remain largely unexplored.

Methods: Here, we investigated the role of retinoic acid (RA) signalling in regulating FAPs and the subsequent effects on muscle restoration from a cardiotoxin-induced injury.

Association between serum vitamin D and depressive symptoms in apparently healthy male adults undergoing routine health check-ups at a single centre.

Objective: To determine the level of vitamin D and to identify the association between vitamin D and depressive symptoms in apparently healthy Korean male adults.

Design: A retrospective study design. Among 43 513 participants between 1 March and 30 November 2018, after eliminating participants with a history of depression or vitamin D deficiency, 9058 were included.

Excessive Glucocorticoids During Pregnancy Impair Fetal Brown Fat Development and Predispose Offspring to Metabolic Dysfunctions.

Maternal stress during pregnancy exposes fetuses to hyperglucocorticoids, which increases the risk of metabolic dysfunctions in offspring. Despite being a key tissue for maintaining metabolic health, the impacts of maternal excessive glucocorticoids (GC) on fetal brown adipose tissue (BAT) development and its long-term thermogenesis and energy expenditure remain unexamined. For testing, pregnant mice were administered dexamethasone (DEX), a synthetic GC, in the last trimester of gestation, when BAT development is the most active.

Relationship of shift work with endoscopic gastritis among workers of an electronics company.

Objectives The current study aimed to examine the cross-sectional association between shift work and gastritis using endoscopic evaluation. Methods We collected questionnaire data from 964 non-shift workers and 290 shift workers aged 22-40 years at an electronics company, comprising age, smoking status, alcohol consumption, physical activity, occupational stress, and gastrointestinal symptoms. We performed a gastroendoscopy of participants.

The effect of shift work on high sensitivity C-reactive protein level among female workers.

Background: This study assessed the association between shift work and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) level, a risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD), in female workers in electronics manufacturing services (EMS).

Methods: Female EMS workers who received special medical examinations for workers in Gyeongnam, Korea between January 2017 and December 2017 were enrolled in this study. Their age, marital status, education level, alcohol consumption, smoking habit, regular exercise, quality of sleep, work stress, and depression were investigated, and blood tests were conducted.

Comparison of risk-assessment tools for cardio-cerebrovascular diseases (CVD) in male shipyard workers: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Periodic revision of assessment tools is essential to ensure risk assessment reliability and validity. Despite the recent revision of the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency (KOSHA) 2018, there is no evidence showing that the revision is superior to other cardio-cerebrovascular diseases (CVDs) risk-assessment tools for workplace health management. We conducted a comparative analysis using the Framingham risk score (FRS) as a gold standard to identify the most relevant CVDs risk-assessment tool for workplace health management.