The weight status of children in late childhood within south East Wales and predictions for their future health.

BACKGROUND: Current child measurements of weight status in Wales are determined at early childhood only. A further measurement at late childhood could identify adiposity levels prior to adolescence and young adulthood. The aim of this study therefore was to determine current adiposity levels in a cohort of children at late childhood and present a prediction of future levels upon entering young adulthood. METHODS: In total, 288 boys (M age = 10.94 years, SD = 0.58) and 257 girls (M age = 10.78 years, SD = 0.63) from South East Wales were measured for anthropometry and their body mass index (BMI) (kg/m2) determined. International Obesity Task Force data predicted their BMI at age 18 years. RESULTS: Approximately one quarter of boys and girls in late childhood were classified at an unhealthy weight. Predictive data showed that by age 18 years, this percentage had increased to approximately one-third in both genders. CONCLUSION: The overweight and obesity levels in our cohort were high and predicted that many could become obese adults. This study therefore supports the call for the current Wales child measurement programme to be extended to report weight status in late childhood.

Redox-regulation of haemostasis in hypoxic exercising humans: a randomised double-blind placebo-controlled antioxidant study.

KEY POINTS: In vitro evidence has identified that coagulation is activated by increased oxidative stress, though the link and underlying mechanism in humans have yet to be established. We conducted the first randomised controlled trial in healthy participants to examine if oral antioxidant prophylaxis alters the haemostatic responses to hypoxia and exercise given their synergistic capacity to promote free radical formation. Systemic free radical formation was shown to increase during hypoxia and was further compounded by exercise, responses that were attenuated by antioxidant prophylaxis. In contrast, antioxidant prophylaxis increased thrombin generation at rest in normoxia, and this was normalised only in the face of prevailing oxidation. Collectively, these findings suggest that human free radical formation is an adaptive phenomenon that serves to maintain vascular haemostasis. ABSTRACT: In vitro evidence suggests that blood coagulation is activated by increased oxidative stress although the link and underlying mechanism in humans have yet to be established. We conducted the first randomised controlled trial to examine if oral antioxidant prophylaxis alters the haemostatic responses to hypoxia and exercise. Healthy males were randomly assigned double-blind to either an antioxidant (n = 20) or placebo group (n = 16). The antioxidant group ingested two capsules/day that each contained 500 mg of l-ascorbic acid and 450 international units (IU) of dl-α-tocopherol acetate for 8 weeks. The placebo group ingested capsules of identical external appearance, taste and smell (cellulose). Both groups were subsequently exposed to acute hypoxia and maximal physical exercise with venous blood sampled pre-supplementation (normoxia), post-supplementation at rest (normoxia and hypoxia) and following maximal exercise (hypoxia). Systemic free radical formation (electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopic detection of the ascorbate radical (A•- )) increased during hypoxia (15,152 ± 1193 AU vs. 14,076 ± 810 AU at rest, P < 0.05) and was further compounded by exercise (16,569 ± 1616 AU vs. rest, P < 0.05), responses that were attenuated by antioxidant prophylaxis. In contrast, antioxidant prophylaxis increased thrombin generation as measured by thrombin-antithrombin complex, at rest in normoxia (28.7 ± 6.4 vs. 4.3 ± 0.2 µg mL-1 pre-intervention, P < 0.05) and was restored but only in the face of prevailing oxidation. Collectively, these findings are the first to suggest that human free radical formation likely reflects an adaptive response that serves to maintain vascular haemostasis.

Elevated aerobic fitness sustained throughout the adult lifespan is associated with improved cerebral hemodynamics.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Age-related impairments in cerebral blood flow and cerebrovascular reactivity to carbon dioxide (CVRCO2) are established risk factors for stroke that respond favorably to aerobic training. The present study examined to what extent cerebral hemodynamics are improved when training is sustained throughout the adult lifespan. METHODS: Eighty-one healthy males were prospectively assigned to 1 of 4 groups based on their age (young, ≤30 years versus old, ≥60 years) and lifetime physical activity levels (trained, ≥150 minutes recreational aerobic activity/week versus sedentary, no activity). Middle cerebral artery blood velocity (MCAv, transcranial Doppler ultrasound), mean arterial pressure (MAP, finger photoplethysmography), and end-tidal partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PETCO2, capnography) were recorded during normocapnia and 3 mins of iso-oxic hypercapnea (5% CO2). Cerebrovascular resistance/conductance indices (CVRi/CVCi) were calculated as MAP/MCAv and MCAv/MAP, respectively, and CVRCO2 as the percentage increase in MCAv from baseline per millimeter of mercury (mm Hg) increase in PETCO2. Maximal oxygen consumption ( O2MAX, online respiratory gas analysis) was determined during cycling ergometry. RESULTS: By design, older participants were active for longer (49±5 versus 6±4 years, P<0.05). Physical activity attenuated the age-related declines in O2MAX, MCAv, CVCi, and CVRCO2 and increase in CVRi (P<0.05 versus sedentary). Linear relationships were observed between O2MAX and both MCAv and CVRCO2 (r=0.58-0.77, P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: These findings highlight the importance of maintaining aerobic fitness throughout the lifespan given its capacity to improve cerebral hemodynamics in later-life.

Impaired cerebral haemodynamic function associated with chronic traumatic brain injury in professional boxers.

The present study examined to what extent professional boxing compromises cerebral haemodynamic function and its association with CTBI (chronic traumatic brain injury). A total of 12 male professional boxers were compared with 12 age-, gender- and physical fitness-matched non-boxing controls. We assessed dCA (dynamic cerebral autoregulation; thigh-cuff technique and transfer function analysis), CVRCO2 (cerebrovascular reactivity to changes in CO2: 5% CO2 and controlled hyperventilation), orthostatic tolerance (supine to standing) and neurocognitive function (psychometric tests). Blood flow velocity in the middle cerebral artery (transcranial Doppler ultrasound), mean arterial blood pressure (finger photoplethysmography), end-tidal CO2 (capnography) and cortical oxyhaemoglobin concentration (near-IR spectroscopy) were continuously measured. Boxers were characterized by fronto-temporal neurocognitive dysfunction and impaired dCA as indicated by a lower rate of regulation and autoregulatory index (P<0.05 compared with controls). Likewise, CVRCO2 was also reduced resulting in a lower CVRCO2 range (P<0.05 compared with controls). The latter was most marked in boxers with the highest CTBI scores and correlated against the volume and intensity of sparring during training (r=-0.84, P<0.05). These impairments coincided with more marked orthostatic hypotension, cerebral hypoperfusion and corresponding cortical de-oxygenation during orthostatic stress (P<0.05 compared with controls). In conclusion, these findings provide the first comprehensive evidence for chronically impaired cerebral haemodynamic function in active boxers due to the mechanical trauma incurred by repetitive, sub-concussive head impact incurred during sparring training. This may help explain why CTBI is a progressive disease that manifests beyond the active boxing career.

COVID-19: Pulmonary and Extra Pulmonary Manifestations.

Introduction: The coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has been the most significant event in 2020, with ~86.8 million cases and 1.88 million deaths worldwide. It is a highly infectious disease, wherein the virus (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) rapidly multiplies and spreads to all parts of the body. Therefore, COVID-19 is not only respiratory disease but also a multisystem disease. Many people, including physicians, incorrectly believe that the disease affects only the respiratory tract. In this study, we aimed to describe COVID-19 manifestations and the underlying pathophysiology to provide the readers with a better understanding of this disease to achieve good management and to control the spread of this disease. Methods: Secondary data were obtained from PubMed, Google Scholar, and Scopus databases. The keywords used for the search were as follows: COVID-19, COVID-19 pulmonary manifestations, COVID-19 extra pulmonary manifestations, and pathophysiology of COVID-19. We collected secondary data from systemic reviews, metaanalyses, case series, and case reports in the form of public data that was published on websites of the government, medical corporations, medical peer-reviewed journals, and medical academies, all of which were indexed in PubMed, Google Scholar, or Scopus. Our questions were as follows: Is COVID-19 a respiratory disease only? and What are the extrapulmonary manifestations of COVID-19? Results: From our data, we found that a patient with COVID-19 may be either asymptomatic or symptomatic. Symptomatic cases may have either pulmonary or extrapulmonary manifestations. Pulmonary manifestations occur as mild, moderate, or severe cases. In mild and moderate cases, extrapulmonary manifestations such as gastroenteritis, fever, or vomiting may present alone. Some of these cases may be missed for diagnosis, and the patient may receive symptomatic treatment without a COVID-19 diagnosis, leading to increased spread of the infection. Extrapulmonary manifestations may occur in severe and critical cases as complications of severe infections (high viral overload) or the cytokine storm, such as in acute kidney injury (AKI), heart failure (HF), and venous thromboembolic (VTE) manifestation. Conclusion: COVID-19 is not a respiratory disease alone; rather, it is a multisystem disease. Pulmonary and extrapulmonary manifestations should be considered for early diagnosis and to control the spread of the infection.

Validation of a new method for non-invasive assessment of vasomotor function.

BACKGROUND: Reactive hyperaemia induces a slowing of pulse wave velocity (PWV) in conduit arteries of healthy subjects (flow-mediated slowing (FMS)). This could be an alternative method for assessing peripheral vasomotor function to the gold standard method of flow-mediated dilatation (FMD) a more expensive and technically demanding technique. We aimed to assess the reproducibility of FMS in healthy participants and to test its ability to detect differences in vasomotor function in patients with familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH) and post-lipoprotein apheresis (LA) treatment. METHODS: Altogether 25 healthy participants were studied on two occasions to assess reproducibility of FMS. In a case control study of 22 patients with FH and matched healthy controls, FMD and FMS were compared. An intervention study in 12 patients with FH looked at the impact of a single LA treatment on FMS assessed pre and post treatment. RESULTS: FMS demonstrated good reproducibility (coefficient of variation (CoV) 7.3%). Patients with FH had reduced FMS in comparison to matched healthy controls (FMS% FH -15.13 ± 5.04% vs controls -18.41 ± 5.15%, p = 0.023), with no difference in FMD% between the two groups. A single LA treatment significantly improved FMS (pre -18.81 ± 9.84 vs post -24.09 ± 7.61%, p = 0.016). CONCLUSIONS: FMS is a reproducible technique, which is able to detect differences in vasomotor function both in a condition associated with endothelial dysfunction and following an acute intervention known to improve endothelial function. This simple technique has potential for accessible assessment of vasomotor function in clinical studies.

Arterial hypoxaemia and its impact on coagulation: significance of altered redox homeostasis.

AIMS: Arterial hypoxaemia stimulates free radical formation. Cellular studies suggest this may be implicated in coagulation activation though human evidence is lacking. To examine this, an observational study was designed to explore relationships between systemic oxidative stress and haemostatic responses in healthy participants exposed to inspiratory hypoxia. RESULTS: Activated partial thromboplastin time and international normalised ratio were measured as routine clinical biomarkers of coagulation and ascorbate free radical (A(•-)) as a direct global biomarker of free radical flux. Six hours of hypoxia activated coagulation, and increased formation of A(•-), with inverse correlations observed against oxyhaemoglobin saturation. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study to address the link between free radical formation and coagulation in vivo. This 'proof-of-concept' study demonstrated functional associations between hypoxaemia and coagulation that may be subject to redox activation of the intrinsic pathway. Further studies are required to identify precisely which intrinsic factors are subject to redox activation.

Age related vascular endothelial function following lifelong sedentariness: positive impact of cardiovascular conditioning without further improvement following low frequency high intensity interval training.

Aging is associated with diffuse impairments in vascular endothelial function and traditional aerobic exercise is known to ameliorate these changes. High intensity interval training (HIIT) is effective at improving vascular function in aging men with existing disease, but its effectiveness remains to be demonstrated in otherwise healthy sedentary aging. However, the frequency of commonly used HIIT protocols may be poorly tolerated in older cohorts. Therefore, the present study investigated the effectiveness of lower frequency HIIT (LfHIIT) on vascular function in a cohort of lifelong sedentary (SED; n = 22, age 62.7 ± 5.2 years) men compared with a positive control group of lifelong exercisers (LEX; n = 17, age 61.1 ± 5.4 years). The study consisted of three assessment phases; enrolment to the study (Phase A), following 6 weeks of conditioning exercise in SED (Phase B) and following 6 weeks of low frequency HIIT in both SED and LEX (LfHIIT; Phase C). Conditioning exercise improved FMD in SED (3.4 ± 1.5% to 4.9 ± 1.1%; P < 0.01) such that the difference between groups on enrolment (3.4 ± 1.5% vs. 5.3 ± 1.4%; P < 0.01) was abrogated. This was maintained but not further improved following LfHIIT in SED whilst FMD remained unaffected by LfHIIT in LEX. In conclusion, LfHIIT is effective at maintaining improvements in vascular function achieved during conditioning exercise in SED. LfHIIT is a well-tolerated and effective exercise mode for reducing cardiovascular risk and maintaining but does not improve vascular function beyond that achieved by conditioning exercise in aging men, irrespective of fitness level.

Acute exercise stress reveals cerebrovascular benefits associated with moderate gains in cardiorespiratory fitness.

Elevated cardiorespiratory fitness improves resting cerebral perfusion, although to what extent this is further amplified during acute exposure to exercise stress and the corresponding implications for cerebral oxygenation remain unknown. To examine this, we recruited 12 moderately active and 12 sedentary healthy males. Middle cerebral artery blood velocity (MCAv) and prefrontal cortical oxyhemoglobin (cO(2)Hb) concentration were monitored continuously at rest and throughout an incremental cycling test to exhaustion. Despite a subtle elevation in the maximal oxygen uptake (active: 52±9 ml/kg per minute versus sedentary: 33±5 ml/kg per minute, P<0.05), resting MCAv was not different between groups. However, more marked increases in both MCAv (+28±13% versus +18±6%, P<0.05) and cO(2)Hb (+5±4% versus -2±3%, P<0.05) were observed in the active group during the transition from low- to moderate-intensity exercise. Collectively, these findings indicate that the long-term benefits associated with moderate increase in physical activity are not observed in the resting state and only become apparent when the cerebrovasculature is challenged by acute exertional stress. This has important clinical implications when assessing the true extent of cerebrovascular adaptation.

Free radical-mediated lipid peroxidation and systemic nitric oxide bioavailability: implications for postexercise hemodynamics.

BACKGROUND: The metabolic vasodilator mediating postexercise hypotension (PEH) is poorly understood. Recent evidence suggests an exercise-induced reliance on pro-oxidant-stimulated vasodilation in normotensive young human subjects, but the role in the prehypertensive state is not known. METHODS: Nine prehypertensives (mean arterial pressure (MAP), 106 ± 5 mm Hg; 50 ± 10 years old) performed 30 minutes of cycle exercise and a nonexercise trial. Arterial distensibility was characterized by simultaneously recording upper- and lower-limb pulse wave velocity (PWV) via oscillometry. Systemic vascular resistance and conductance were determined by MAP/Q and Q/MAP, respectively. Venous blood was assayed for indirect markers of oxidative stress (lipid hydroperoxides (LOOH); spectrophotometry), plasma nitric oxide (NO) and S-nitrosothiols (fluorometry), atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP), and angiotensin II (ANG-II) (radioimmunoassay). RESULTS: Exercise reduced MAP (6mm Hg) and vascular resistance (15%) at 60 minutes after exercise, whereas conductance was elevated (20%) (P < 0.05). The hypotension resulted in a lower MAP at 60 and 120 minutes after exercise compared with nonexercise (P < 0.05). Upper-limb PWV was also 18% lower after exercise compared with baseline (P < 0.05). Exercise increased LOOH coincident with the nadir in hypotension and vascular resistance but failed to affect plasma NO or S-nitrosothiols. Exercise-induced increases in LOOH were related to ANG-II (r = 0.97; P < 0.01) and complemented by elevated ANP concentrations. CONCLUSIONS: These data indicate attenuated vascular resistance after exercise with increased oxidative stress and unchanged NO. Whether free radicals are obligatory for PEH requires further investigation, although it seems that oxidative stress occurs during the hyperemia underlying PEH.

Upper body contribution during leg cycling peak power in teenage boys and girls.

This study investigated gender differences in upper-body contribution to cycle muscle power in 23 adolescents. All subjects performed two 5-s and one 20-s cycling sprint, using two protocols: with handgrip (WG) and without handgrip (WOG). Maximal handgrip strength was assessed for each individual. Absolute peak and mean cycling power was corrected for total fat-free mass (FFM) and for lean leg volume (LLV). Males showed higher cycling performance than females. Peak power and 20-s mean power (flywheel inertia included), but not optimal velocity, were higher WG than WOG. Especially for peak power, absolute differences between both protocols were higher in males than in females, and were significantly related to handgrip strength. The significant contribution of the upper body suggested that, for standardisation of cycle muscle power, total FFM is a more relevant variable compared with LLV. Furthermore, in adolescents, the higher contribution of the upper body musculature in males partly explained gender differences in peak power.