Chronic Fatigue Persists in a Significant Proportion of Female Patients After Transplantation for Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis.

Chronic fatigue and an impairment of general health-related quality of life (HRQoL) are frequently reported by patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC). Studies on patients with primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) suggest that, unlike pruritus, fatigue may not be ameliorated by liver transplantation (LT). However, there are few data regarding the assessment of fatigue before and after transplantation in PSC. To investigate the effect of LT on fatigue and HRQoL in patients with PSC, 81 patients with PSC (median age 33 years; 69% men) were prospectively enrolled in this study. The PBC-40 and Short Form 36 (SF-36) questionnaires were used for assessment before and twice after LT. A total of 26 patients who received a transplant for PBC were included as controls. The potential impact of the clinical and laboratory parameters was evaluated by univariate and multivariate analyses. Although in addition to other well-being indexes the median fatigue score improved after LT (P < 0.001), a detailed analysis demonstrated that fatigue persists in one-third of patients. A significant fatigue reduction was seen in men (P < 0.001) but not women (P = 0.25). Posttransplant fatigue did not depend on concomitant inflammatory bowel disease, laboratory indexes of cholestasis, or disease recurrence. In the multivariate regression model, female sex was the only independent covariate associated with persistent fatigue. In terms of other measures of HRQoL, LT caused a substantial improvement in the majority of SF-36 and PBC-40 domains. Recurrent PSC and unemployment negatively affected the well-being of patients. Patients who received a transplant for PSC had significantly better HRQoL than those patients with PBC. LT improves various measures of HRQoL, but it does not ameliorate fatigue in female patients with PSC.

Physical exercise and catecholamines response: benefits and health risk: possible mechanisms.

Beneficial effect of regular moderate physical exercise (PE) and negative effect of severe exercise and/or overtraining as an activator of the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) have been shown in numerous aspects of human health, including reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, neurological disease, depression, and some types of cancer. Moderate-to-vigorous PE stimulates the SNS activation, releasing catecholamines (CATs) adrenaline, noradrenaline, dopamine that play an important regulatory and modulatory actions by affecting metabolic processes and the immune system. Summary of the dispersed literature in this area and explanation of the biological mechanisms operating between PE-CATs and the immune system would lead to a better understanding of the beneficial and negative effects of PE on health. This overview aimed to: demonstrate representative literature findings on the exercise released CATs levels, major functions performed by these hormones, their interactions with the immune system and their effects on carbohydrate and lipid metabolism. Also, mechanisms of cytotoxic free radicals and reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation during CATs oxidation, and molecular mechanisms of CATs response to exercise are discussed to demonstrate positive and negative on human health effects. Owing to the large body of the subject literature, we present a representative cross-section of the published studies in this area. The results show a significant role of CATs in carbohydrate and lipid metabolism, immunity and as generators of ROS, depending on PE intensity and duration. Further investigation of the PE-CATs relationship should validate CATs levels to optimize safe intensity and duration of exercise and individualize their prescription, considering CATs to be applied as markers for a dose of exercise. Also, a better understanding of the biological mechanisms is also needed.

Intensity of Health Behaviors in People Who Practice Combat Sports and Martial Arts.

Background: Health behaviors are associated with a healthy lifestyle, in which relative possibilities of choice play an important part. Athletes are a group of people who should particularly endeavor to have a health-oriented lifestyle. It is believed that combat sports (CS) and martial arts (MA) have an especially significant educational potential, connected with several desirable values which provide positive patterns of health behaviors. The aim of the work was to assess the intensity of health behaviors in athletes who practiced CS and MA in relation to the length of their training history, their age, sex, place of residence, education level, and financial situation. Methods: The research involved 441 men and women who practiced boxing (B), Brazilian ju-jitsu (BJJ), karate (K), mixed martial arts (MMA) and Muay Thai (MT). The average age of the subjects was 24.68 ± 8.24 years. The standardized Health Behavior Inventory (HBI) questionnaire and another questionnaire for a lifestyle survey were applied. Individual behaviors covered four areas: Correct eating habits (CEH), preventive behaviors (PB), positive mental attitude (PMA), and health practices (HP). The one-way analysis of variance (F-test) for independent groups was used (ANOVA). The effect size was calculated with Hedge's g for Student's t-test, and with Cramér's V for the χ2 test. The value of p ≤ 0.05 was assumed to be statistically significant. Results: CS and MA athletes presented a moderate level of health behaviors. The greater intensity of health behaviors (HBI and its categories) was found among B, K and MMA athletes, and the smaller among those who practiced MT. Correct eating habits (CEH) were characteristic of subjects who practiced every day and whose length of training history was 4-8 years. Greater intensity of preventive behaviors (PB) was observed among individuals aged under-19 years, who still studied. Greater intensity of health practices (HP) was found among those who exercised every day. Influence of financial situation was observed in relations to PMA. Conclusions: It seems that the existing educational potential of CS and MA was not fully realized in the studied population. Determining the place of health in the system of values of CS and MA athletes may be the basis for predicting health behaviors and developing health education programs.

The contribution of p53 and Y chromosome long arm genes to regulation of apoptosis in mouse testis.

Apoptosis of excessive or defective germ cells is a natural process occurring in mammalian testes. Tumour suppressor protein p53 is involved in this process both in developing and adult male gonads. Its contribution to testicular physiology is known to be modified by genetic background. The aim of this study was to evaluate the combined influence of the p53 and Y chromosome long arm genes on male germ cell apoptosis. Knockout of the transformation related protein 53 (Trp53) gene was introduced into congenic strains: B10.BR (intact Y chromosome) and B10.BR-Ydel (Y chromosome with a deletion in the long arm). The level of apoptosis in the testes of 19-day-old and 3-month-old male mice was determined using the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated deoxyuridine triphosphate in situ nick-end labelling (TUNEL) method. The study revealed that although p53 is involved in germ cell apoptosis in peripubertal testes, this process can also be mediated by p53-independent mechanisms. However, activation of p53-independent apoptotic pathways in the absence of the p53 protein requires engagement of the multicopy Yq genes and was not observed in gonads of B10.BR-Ydel-p53-/- males. The role of Yq genes in the regulation of testicular apoptosis seems to be restricted to the initial wave of spermatogenesis and is not evident in adult gonads. The study confirmed, instead, that p53 does participate in spontaneous apoptosis in mature testes.

Prenatal stress affects viability, activation, and chemokine signaling in astroglial cultures.

CXCL12/SDF-1α and CX3CL1/fractalkine are constitutively expressed in the brain, which indicates their significant functions. Emerging evidence highlights the role of astrocytes and the immune system in the pathophysiology of stress-related disorders. The aim of this study was to assess whether prenatal stress affects chemokine signaling, cell viability/activation, and the iNOS pathway in astroglial cultures. Our results showed that prenatal stress lowered astrocyte viability and simultaneously increased GFAP expression. Furthermore, CX3CL1 production and the CXCL12/CXCR4-7 axis were also altered by prenatal stress. Taken together, malfunctions caused by prenatal stress may adversely influence brain development, leading to long-term effects on adult brain function and behavior.

Leisure time physical activity and health-related behaviours after liver transplantation: a prospective, single-centre study.

INTRODUCTION: Leisure time physical activity is of proven significance in surveys of fitness levels in various patient groups. Low physical functioning may affect recovery after liver transplantation (LTx). AIM: To assess patients' leisure time activity and health-related habits after transplantation. MATERIAL AND METHODS: One hundred and seven patients after LTx were included. They were divided into groups depending on aetiology of liver problem and the period after LTx. Minnesota Leisure Time Physical Activity Questionnaire (MILTPAQ) and Health Behaviour Inventory (HBI) were applied. RESULTS: Neither the primary indication for the procedure nor the period after surgery had a significant relationship with physical activity assessed with MILTPAQ; however, activity was lower in females than males (1804.3 ±1848.9 vs. 2619.9 ±2067; p = 0.03). Age at survey/surgery was inversely associated with higher activity (p = 0.02 and p = 0.03, respectively). Health Behaviour Inventory analysis showed a correlation between all four of its domains and age at transplantation/survey (p < 0.001 for both). There was a negative correlation between positive mental attitude and body mass index (BMI). CONCLUSIONS: The primary indications for grafting and, surprisingly, the period after surgery did not seem to be related to the patients' physical activity in leisure time. Younger and leaner patients appeared to understand the standards of healthy behaviour better and implement them in their daily activities. As higher BMI are associated with a negative mental attitude in patients after LTx, a particular emphasis should be placed on proper counselling in this subgroup of patients.

Increased progesterone production in cumulus-oocyte complexes of female mice sired by males with the Y-chromosome long arm deletion and its potential influence on fertilization efficiency.

It was revealed previously that B10.BR(Y(del)) females sired by males with the Y-chromosome long arm deletion differ from genetically identical B10.BR females sired by males with the intact Y chromosome. This is interpreted as a result of different epigenetic information which females of both groups inherit from their fathers. In the following study, we show that cumulus-oocyte complexes ovulated by B10.BR(Y(del)) females synthesize increased amounts of progesterone, which is important sperm stimulator. Because their extracellular matrix is excessively firm, the increased progesterone secretion belongs presumably to factors that compensate this feature enabling unchanged fertilization ratios. Described compensatory mechanism can act only on sperm of high quality, presenting proper receptors. Indeed, low proportion of sperm of Y(del) males that poorly fertilize B10.BR(Y(del)) oocytes demonstrates positive staining of membrane progesterone receptors. This proportion is significantly higher for sperm of control males that fertilize B10.BR(Y(del)) and B10.BR oocytes with the same efficiency.