Blunted circadian cortisol in children is associated with poor cardiovascular health and may reflect circadian misalignment.

Objectives: Circadian cues in children (sunlight, exercise, diet patterns) may be associated with health outcomes. The primary objective was to assess associations of daily cortisol fluctuations (morning, night) with cardiovascular health outcomes. A secondary objective was to determine if 1-year longitudinal changes in circadian cortisol levels are associated with longitudinal changes in health outcomes.

Comparison of Concussion Rates Between NCAA Division I and Division III Men's and Women's Ice Hockey Players.

Background: Examinations related to divisional differences in the incidence of sports-related concussions (SRC) in collegiate ice hockey are limited.

Purpose: To compare the epidemiologic patterns of concussion in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) ice hockey by sex and division.

Study Design: Descriptive epidemiology study.

Glucocorticoid Receptor (NR3C1) Variants Associate with the Muscle Strength and Size Response to Resistance Training.

Glucocorticoid receptor (NR3C1) polymorphisms associate with obesity, muscle strength, and cortisol sensitivity. We examined associations among four NR3C1 polymorphisms and the muscle response to resistance training (RT). European-American adults (n = 602, 23.

Low Muscle Strength Thresholds for the Detection of Cardiometabolic Risk in Adolescents.

Introduction: There is an association between strength and health among adolescents, yet, what remains to be determined is sex-specific cut points for low strength in the detection of risk in this population. The purpose of this study was to determine thresholds of low grip strength in a large cohort (N=1,326) of adolescents.

Methods: All data were collected between 2005 and 2008, and analyzed in 2014-2015.

Obesity-Related Genetic Variants and their Associations with Physical Activity.

Background: Meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies identified obesity-related genetic variants. Due to the pleiotropic effects of related phenotypes, we tested six of these obesity-related genetic variants for their association with physical activity: fat mass and obesity-associated ()(rs9939609)T>A, potassium channel tetramerization domain containing () (rs11084753)G>A, melanocortin receptor4 ()(rs17782313)T>C, neuronal growth regulator 1 ()(rs2815752)A>G, SH2B adapter protein 1 ()(rs7498665)A>G, and transmembrane protein18 ()(rs6548238)C>T.

Method: European-American women ( = 263) and men ( = 229) (23.

Strength capacity and cardiometabolic risk clustering in adolescents.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine the gender-specific independent association between muscular strength and cardiometabolic risk clustering in a large cohort (n = 1421) of children.

Methods: Principal component analysis was used to determine the pattern of risk clustering and to derive a continuous aggregate score (MetScore) from various cardiometabolic risk components: percent body fat (%BF), fasting glucose, blood pressure, plasma triglycerides levels, and HDL-cholesterol. Gender-stratified risk and MetScore were assessed by using general linear models and logistic regression for differences between strength tertiles, as well as independent associations with age, BMI, estimated cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), physical activity, and muscular strength (normalized for body mass).

SLC30A8 nonsynonymous variant is associated with recovery following exercise and skeletal muscle size and strength.

Genome-wide association studies have identified thousands of variants that are associated with numerous phenotypes. One such variant, rs13266634, a nonsynonymous single nucleotide polymorphism in the solute carrier family 30 (zinc transporter) member eight gene, is associated with a 53% increase in the risk of developing type 2 diabetes (T2D). We hypothesized that individuals with the protective allele against T2D would show a positive response to short-term and long-term resistance exercise.

Microarray analysis reveals novel features of the muscle aging process in men and women.

To develop a global view of muscle transcriptional differences between older men and women and sex-specific aging, we obtained muscle biopsies from the biceps brachii of young and older men and women and profiled the whole-genome gene expression using microarray. A logistic regression-based method in combination with an intensity-based Bayesian moderated t test was used to identify significant sex- and aging-related gene functional groups. Our analysis revealed extensive sex differences in the muscle transcriptome of older individuals and different patterns of transcriptional changes with aging in men and women.

Principal component analysis reveals gender-specific predictors of cardiometabolic risk in 6th graders.

Background: The purpose of this study was to determine the sex-specific pattern of pediatric cardiometabolic risk with principal component analysis, using several biological, behavioral and parental variables in a large cohort (n = 2866) of 6th grade students.

Methods: Cardiometabolic risk components included waist circumference, fasting glucose, blood pressure, plasma triglycerides levels and HDL-cholesterol. Principal components analysis was used to determine the pattern of risk clustering and to derive a continuous aggregate score (MetScore).

Variants of the ankyrin repeat domain 6 gene (ANKRD6) and muscle and physical activity phenotypes among European-derived American adults.

Ankyrin repeat domain 6 (ANKRD6) is a ubiquitous protein that associates with early development in mammals and is highly expressed in the brain, spinal cord, and heart of humans. We examined the role of 8 ANKRD6 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) on muscle performance and habitual physical activity (PA). Single-nucleotide polymorphisms were 545 T>A (rs9362667), 485 M>L (rs61736690), 233 T>M (rs2273238), 128 I>L (rs3748085), 631 P>L (rs61739327), 122 Q>E (rs16881983), 197805 G>A (rs9344950), and 710 L>X (NOVEL).

The 1p13.3 LDL (C)-associated locus shows large effect sizes in young populations.

Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have identified polymorphic loci associated with coronary artery disease (CAD) risk factors (i.e. serum lipids) in adult populations (42-69 y).

Interactive effects of APOE haplotype, sex, and exercise on postheparin plasma lipase activities.

Hepatic lipase (HL) and lipoprotein lipase (LPL) activities (HLA, LPLA) modify lipoproteins and facilitate their binding to hepatic receptors. Apolipoprotein E (APOE) physically interacts with the lipases, and the three common haplotypes of the APOE gene (ε2, ε3, and ε4) yield protein isoforms (E2, E3, and E4, respectively) that are functionally different. Lipase activities themselves differ by sex and exercise training status.

AKT1 polymorphisms are associated with risk for metabolic syndrome.

Converging lines of evidence suggest that AKT1 is a major mediator of the responses to insulin,insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1), and glucose. AKT1 also plays a key role in the regulation of both muscle cell hypertrophy and atrophy. We hypothesized that AKT1 variants may play a role in the endophenotypes that makeup metabolic syndrome.

CCL2 and CCR2 variants are associated with skeletal muscle strength and change in strength with resistance training.

Baseline muscle size and muscle adaptation to exercise are traits with high variability across individuals. Recent research has implicated several chemokines and their receptors in the pathogenesis of many conditions that are influenced by inflammatory processes, including muscle damage and repair. One specific chemokine, chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 2 (CCL2), is expressed by macrophages and muscle satellite cells, increases expression dramatically following muscle damage, and increases expression further with repeated bouts of exercise, suggesting that CCL2 plays a key role in muscle adaptation.

MC4R variant is associated with BMI but not response to resistance training in young females.

Unlabelled: Recently, a genome-wide association study (GWAS) that identified eight single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with BMI highlighted a possible neuronal influence on the development of obesity. We hypothesized these SNPs would govern the response of BMI and subcutaneous fat to resistance training in young individuals (age = 24 years). We genotyped the eight GWAS-identified SNPs in the article by Willer et al.

A polymorphism near IGF1 is associated with body composition and muscle function in women from the Health, Aging, and Body Composition Study.

Previous studies have reported associations of polymorphisms in the IGF1 gene with phenotypes of body composition (BC). The purpose of this study was to identify phenotypes of BC and physical function that were associated with the IGF1 promoter polymorphism (rs35767, -C1245T). Subjects from the Health, Aging, and Body Composition Study, white males and females (n = 925/836) and black males and females (533/705) aged 70-79 years were genotyped for the polymorphism.

Vascular remodeling in response to 12 wk of upper arm unilateral resistance training.

Unlabelled: Participation in regular aerobic exercise has been shown to increase arterial size and that exercise-induced vascular remodeling may be regional rather than systemic. However, these issues have been minimally investigated concerning resistance training.

Purposes: To determine whether 1) resistance training of the nondominant arm elicits an increase in diameter of the brachial artery and 2) unilateral training induces arterial remodeling in the contralateral arm.

Association of age with muscle size and strength before and after short-term resistance training in young adults.

The purpose of this study was to assess the association of age with muscle mass and strength in a group of young adults before and after 12 weeks of progressive resistance training. Eight hundred twenty-six young males and females (age 24.34 +/- 5.

CNTF 1357 G -> A polymorphism and the muscle strength response to resistance training.

The present study examined associations between the ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) 1357 G --> A polymorphism and the muscle strength response to a unilateral, upper arm resistance-training (RT) program among healthy, young adults. Subjects were 754 Caucasian men (40%) and women (60%) who were genotyped and performed a training program of the nondominant (trained) arm with the dominant (untrained) arm as a comparison. Peak elbow flexor strength was measured with one repetition maximum, isometric strength with maximum voluntary contraction, and bicep cross-sectional area with MRI in the trained and untrained arms before and after training.

Differences in fat and muscle mass associated with a functional human polymorphism in a post-transcriptional BMP2 gene regulatory element.

A classic morphogen, bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP2) regulates the differentiation of pluripotent mesenchymal cells. High BMP2 levels promote osteogenesis or chondrogenesis and low levels promote adipogenesis. BMP2 inhibits myogenesis.

Myostatin and follistatin polymorphisms interact with muscle phenotypes and ethnicity.

Purpose: We examined associations among myostatin (MSTN) 2379 A > G and 163 G > A and follistatin (FST) -5003 A > T and -833 G > T single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) on the muscle size and the strength response to resistance training (RT).

Methods: Subjects (n = 645, age = 24.1 +/- 0.

INSIG2 gene polymorphism is associated with increased subcutaneous fat in women and poor response to resistance training in men.

Background: A common SNP upstream of the INSIG2 gene, rs7566605 (g.-10,1025G>C, Chr2:118,552,255, NT_022135.15), was reported to be associated with obesity (Body Mass Index, [BMI]) in a genome-wide association scan using the Framingham Heart Study but has not been reproduced in other cohorts.

Apolipoprotein E genotype and sex influence C-reactive protein levels regardless of exercise training status.

C-reactive protein (CRP) is a marker for systemic inflammation and increased cardiovascular disease risk. Regular exercise may decrease CRP. Apolipoprotein E (apo E) has 3 common genotype variants--E2/3, 3/3, and 3/4--that modulate lipid metabolism and may have other metabolic physiologic roles, including some evidence that the genotype affects CRP levels.