Nutrient intake is a predictor of lung function in obese asthmatic adolescents undergoing interdisciplinary therapy.

Asthma-obesity is a multifactorial disease with specific asthma phenotypes that aggravate due to overweight and an unbalanced diet. Furthermore, obese asthmatic patients are corticotherapy-resistant. Therefore, the aims of the present study were to evaluate the effects of an interdisciplinary intervention on food consumption, body composition, lung function and adipokines in asthmatic and non-asthmatic obese adolescents and to investigate the influence of nutrients on lung function. Obese non-asthmatic (n 42) and obese asthmatic (n 21) adolescents of both sexes were enrolled in the present study. Food intake, adipokine levels, body composition, asthma symptoms and lung function were assessed across the study. After the intervention of 1 year, there was a reduction (P ≤ 0·01) in BMI, body fat percentage, visceral and subcutaneous fat and an increase (P ≤ 0·01) in lean mass and all lung function variables in both groups, except the relation between forced expiratory volume in 1 s and forced vital capacity (FEV1:FVC) in non-asthmatic patients. Moreover, both groups decreased lipid and cholesterol consumption (P ≤ 0·01). The highest energy consumption (ß = -0·021) was associated with lower values of FVC. Similarly, carbohydrate consumption (ß = -0·06) and cholesterol were negative predictors (ß = -0·05) in FEV1:FVC. However, the consumption of Ca (ß = 0·01), fibres (ß = 1·34) and vitamin A (ß = 0·01) were positive predictors of FEV1:FVC. Asthma-obesity interdisciplinary treatment promoted an improvement on food consumption and lung function in adolescents and demonstrated that the consumption of nutrients influenced an increase in lung function.

The Acute Effects of Mat Pilates on Hemodynamic and Salivary Nitrite Responses After Exercise in Postmenopausal Women.

The aim of this study was to compare the hemodynamic and salivary responses after mat Pilates, aerobics, resistance exercises, and control. A total of 16 normotensive postmenopausal women performed: Pilates, 10 floor exercises; aerobics, 35 min on a treadmill (60-70% of heart rate reserve); resistance exercises, 60% of one-repetition maximum; and control, no physical exercise. Blood pressure and heart rate variability were evaluated at rest and 60 min after the intervention. Saliva samples were collected at rest, immediately after, and 30 and 60 min after exercise for analysis of nitrite concentration and total proteins. Systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, and mean blood pressure area under the curve were lower (p < .05) after both aerobic and resistance exercises sessions but not after the Pilates session when compared with the control session. Nitrite concentrations in saliva were higher 60 min after the end of all exercise sessions. Heart rate variability was higher after the resistance exercise. Aerobic and resistance exercises were capable of decreasing arterial blood pressure after acute exercise.

Efficiency of intermittent exercise on adiposity and fatty liver in rats fed with high-fat diet.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to examine and compare the effects of continuous or intermittent exercises on adiposity and fatty liver in rats fed with high-fat diet. METHODS AND PROCEDURES: Wistar rats were divided according to diet composition-chow diet (C) or high-fat diet (H)-and kinds of exercise-sedentary (S), continuous (CE), or intermittent (IE) exercises. The CE group swam 90 min/day, and the IE group swam 3 x 30 min/day (at 4-h intervals between sessions); both groups exercised 5 days/week during 8 weeks. Body weight and food intake were recorded daily. Lipogenesis rate in vivo was determined by the incorporation of (3)H(2)O into saponified lipids in retroperitoneal (RET), epididymal (EPI), and visceral (VIS) white adipose tissues, brown adipose tissue (BAT), liver (L), and gastrocnemius muscle (GAST) using the gravimetric method. Total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol, and triacylglycerol (TG) were analyzed. RESULTS: The major finding of this study is that IE was more efficient than CE in reducing the adverse effects of high-fat diet and sedentarism. There was an improvement in the lipid profile and a reduction in food intake, body weight gain, visceral and central adiposity, and fatty liver, contributing to the control of obesity and other comorbidities, including nonalcoholic fat liver diseases. DISCUSSION: Earlier studies have discussed the effects of diet consumption on adiposity and their relation to chronic diseases and obesity. This study discusses the effects of high-fat diet consumption and the different kinds of exercise on weight gain, adiposity, fatty liver, and lipid profile in rats. The results may depend on the exercise, time of each session, age, gender, and experimental period.

Effects of 2 or 5 consecutive exercise days on adipocyte area and lipid parameters in Wistar rats.

BACKGROUND: Exercise has been prescribed in the treatment and control of dyslipidemias and cholesterolemia, however, lipid responses to different training frequencies in hypercholesterolemic men have been inconsistent. We sought to verify if different frequencies of continuous moderate exercise (2 or 5 days/week, swimming) can, after 8 weeks, promote adaptations in adipocyte area and lipid parameters, as well as body weight and relative weight of tissues in normo and hypercholesterolemic adult male rats. METHODS: Normal cholesterol chow diet or cholesterol-rich diet (1% cholesterol plus 0.25% cholic acid) were freely given during 8 weeks to the rats divided in 6 experimentals groups: sedentary normal cholesterol chow diet (C); sedentary cholesterol-rich diet (H); 5x per week continuous training normal cholesterol chow diet (TC5) and cholesterol-rich diet (TH5); 2x per week continuos traning normal cholesterol chow diet (TC2) and cholesterol-rich diet (TH2). RESULTS: No changes were observed in lipid profile in normal cholesterol chow diet, but both 2 a 5 days/week exercise improved this profile in cholesterol-rich diet. Body weight gain was lower in exercised rats. Decrease in retroperitoneal and epididymal relative weights as well as reductions in adipocyte areas under all diets types were observed only in 5 days/week, while 2 days/week showed improvements mainly in cholesterol-rich diet rats. CONCLUSION: Our results confirm the importance of exercise protocols to control dyslipidemias and obesity in rats. The effects of 5 days/week exercise were more pronounced compared with those of 2 consecutive days/week training.