The Effects of Combined Exercise on Health-Related Fitness, Endotoxin, and Immune Function of Postmenopausal Women with Abdominal Obesity.

This study was conducted to examine the effects of combined exercise on health-related fitness, endotoxin concentrations, and immune functions of postmenopausal women with abdominal obesity. 20 voluntary participants were recruited and they were randomly allocated to the combined exercise group (n = 10) or the control group (n = 10). Visceral obesity was defined as a visceral-to-subcutaneous fat ratio ≥ 0.4 based on computed tomography (CT) results. Body composition, exercise stress testing, fitness measurement, CT scan, and blood variables were analyzed to elucidate the effects of combined exercise. The SPSS Statistics 18.0 program was used to calculate means and standard deviations for all variables. Significant differences between the exercise group and control group were determined with 2-way ANOVA and paired t-tests. The exercise group's abdominal obesity was mitigated due to visceral fat reduction; grip strength, push-ups, and oxygen uptake per weight improved; and HDL-C and IgA level also increased, while TNF-α, CD14, and endotoxin levels decreased. Lowered TNF-α after exercise might have an important role in the obesity reduction. Therefore, we can conclude that combined exercise is effective in mitigating abdominal obesity, preventing metabolic diseases, and enhancing immune function.

Cardiac Damage Biomarkers Following a Triathlon in Elite and Non-elite Triathletes.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate cardiac damage biomarkers after a triathlon race in elite and non-elite athlete groups. Fifteen healthy men participated in the study. Based on performance, they were divided into elite athlete group (EG: n=7) and non-elite athlete group (NEG: n=8). Participants' blood samples were obtained during four periods: before, immediately, 2 hours and 7 days after finishing the race. creatine kinase (CK), creatine kinase-myoglobin (CK-MB), myoglobin, and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) were significantly increased in both groups immediately after, and 2 hours after finishing the race (p<.05). CK, CK-MB, and myoglobin were completely recovered after 7 days (p<.05). Hematocrit (Hct) was significantly decreased in both groups (p<.05) 7 days after the race. LDH was significantly decreased in the EG (p<.05) only 7 days after the race. Homoglobin (Hb) was significantly decreased in the NEG (p<.05) only 2 hours after the race. Although cardiac troponin T (cTnT) was significantly increased in the EG but not in the NEG 2hours after the race (p<.05), there was no group-by-time interaction. cTnT was completely recovered in both groups 7 days after the race. In conclusion, cardiac damage occurs during a triathlon race and, is greater in elite than in non-elite. However, all cardiac damage markers return to normal range within 1 week.