Cardiorespiratory fitness as a predictor of intestinal microbial diversity and distinct metagenomic functions.

Background: Reduced microbial diversity in human intestines has been implicated in various conditions such as diabetes, colorectal cancer, and inflammatory bowel disease. The role of physical fitness in the context of human intestinal microbiota is currently not known. We used high-throughput sequencing to analyze fecal microbiota of 39 healthy participants with similar age, BMI, and diets but with varying cardiorespiratory fitness levels.

Relationship between cerebral blood flow and blood pressure in long-term heart transplant recipients.

Heart transplant recipients are at an increased risk for cerebral hemorrhage and ischemic stroke; yet, the exact mechanism for this derangement remains unclear. We hypothesized that alterations in cerebrovascular regulation is principally involved. To test this hypothesis, we studied cerebral pressure-flow dynamics in 8 clinically stable male heart transplant recipients (62±8 years of age and 9±7 years post transplant, mean±SD), 9 male age-matched controls (63±8 years), and 10 male donor controls (27±5 years).

Influence of posture on the regulation of cerebral perfusion.

Background: Posture has a major influence on cerebral blood flow (CBF). Unlike head-up tilt (HUT), less is known about how CBF is regulated during head-down tilt (HDT). We hypothesized that CBF would be elevated during HDT and decreased during HUT.