Psychological changes in athletes infected with Omicron after return to training: fatigue, sleep, and mood.

Background: This study aims to analyze the changes of approximately 1 month in fatigue, sleep, and mood in athletes after returning to training following infection with the COVID-19 Omicron strain and provide recommendations for returning to training after infection. Methods: Two hundred and thirty professional athletes who had returned to training after being infected with COVID-19 in December 2022 were recruited to participate in three tests conducted from early January 2023. The second test was completed approximately 1 week after the first, and the third was completed about 2 weeks after the second. Each test consisted of completing scales and the exercise-induced fatigue measure. The scales included a visual analog scale, the Athens Insomnia Scale for non-clinical application, and the Depression-Anxiety-Stress scale. The exercise task was a six-minute stair climb test, and athletes evaluated subjective fatigue levels before and after exercise using another Visual Analog Scale and the Karolinska Sleepiness Scale. Results: After returning to training, athletes' physical fatigue decreased initially but increased as training progressed. Cognitive fatigue did not change significantly. The exercise task led to elevated levels of physical fatigue after a longer duration of training. Sleep quality problems decreased rapidly after the start of training but remained stable with prolonged training. Depression levels continued to decline, while anxiety levels only reduced after a longer duration of training. Stress levels decreased rapidly after the start of training but did not change with prolonged training. Conclusion: Athletes who return to training after recovering from COVID-19 experience positive effects on their fatigue, sleep, and mood. It is important to prioritize anxiety assessment and interventions during the short period after returning and to continue monitoring fatigue levels and implementing recovery interventions over a longer period of time.

Serum and diet long-chain omega-3 fatty acid nutritional status in Chinese elite athletes.

Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (omega-3 PUFAs) are essential for improving the health and performance of athletes. The present study aimed to evaluate the nutritional status of omega-3 PUFAs in Chinese elite athletes by both dietary intake analysis and serum biomarker detection. A cross-sectional analysis of data from 54 elite athletes (24 men and 30 women) from Shanghai professional sports teams was conducted. A food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) was employed to analyze dietary intake, and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS) was conducted to measure serum biomarkers of PUFAs. Correlation analysis was performed to investigate the relationships of PUFA biomarkers with diet, inflammation and oxidative stress. The results showed that the median intake of EPA + DHA among athletes was 132 mg/d, which is lower than the minimum value recommended by dietary guidelines (250 mg/d). The average serum EPA + DHA was 4.0 ± 1.1%, and the ratio of omega-6/omega-3 was 7.7 ± 1.7. Most (96.3%) of the athletes were below the targeted value of serum EPA + DHA, which is associated with a reduction in cardiovascular risk. Correlation analysis showed that the serum EPA + DHA was positively correlated with the long-term dietary intake of EPA + DHA and negatively correlated with inflammatory markers. In conclusion, the serum circulating EPA + DHA and omega-6/omega-3 ratio are effective biomarkers reflecting the nutritional status of PUFAs in athletes. Omega-3 PUFAs have a potential effect on inhibiting inflammatory markers. Hence, it is necessary for Chinese athletes to improve their suboptimal nutritional status of PUFAs through dietary intervention.

Peptides derived from the integrin ß cytoplasmic tails inhibit angiogenesis.

BACKGROUND: Integrins are essential regulators of angiogenesis. However, the antiangiogenic potential of peptides derived from the integrin cytoplasmic tails (CT) remains mostly undetermined. METHODS: Here we designed a panel of membrane-penetrating peptides (termed as mßCTPs), each comprising a C-terminal NxxY motif from one of the conserved integrin ß CTs, and evaluated their antiangiogenic ability using both in vitro and in vivo approaches. RESULTS: We found that mß3CTP, mß5CTP and mß6CTP, derived respectively from the integrin ß3, ß5 and ß6 CTs, but not others, exhibit antiangiogenic ability. Interestingly, we observed that the integrin ß3, ß5 and ß6 CTs but not others are able to interact with ß3-endonexin. In addition, the antiangiogenic core in mß3CTP is identical to a previously identified ß3-endonexin binding region in the integrin ß3 CT, indicating that the antiangiogenic mßCTPs may function via their binding to ß3-endonexin. Consistently, knockdown of endogenous ß3-endonexin in HUVECs significantly suppresses tube formation, suggesting that ß3-endonexin is proangiogenic. However, neither treatment with the antiangiogenic mßCTPs nor knockdown of endogenous ß3-endonexin affects integrin-mediated HUVEC adhesion and migration, indicating that their antiangiogenic effect may not rely on directly regulating integrin activity. Importantly, both treatment with the antiangiogenic mßCTPs and knockdown of endogenous ß3-endonexin in HUVECs inhibit VEGF expression and cell proliferation, thereby providing mechanistic explanations for the functional consequences. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that the antiangiogenic mßCTPs can interact with ß3-endonexin in vascular endothelial cells and suppress its function in regulating VEGF expression and cell proliferation, thus disclosing a unique pathway that may be useful for developing novel antiangiogenic strategies.

The effects of dietary leucine on the growth performances, body composition, metabolic abilities and innate immune responses in black carp Mylopharyngodon piceus.

The present study was focused on the growth, body composition, metabolic abilities and innate immune responses in juvenile black carp Mylopharyngodon piceus fed with six levels of dietary leucine (7.3, 12.4, 16.2, 21.9, 28.3 and 34.5 g kg-1) for 9 weeks. Results showed that the highest weight gain (WG) and the lowest feed conversion ratio (FCR) was obtained at 23.5 and 23.9 g kg-1 dietary leucine using second-order polynomial model, respectively. Adequate dietary leucine content (21.9 and 28.3 g kg-1) could significantly up-regulate the expression levels of neuropeptide Y (NPY) and ghrelin (GRL) in the brain of black carp juveniles. The protein efficiency ratio (PER), feed efficiency ratio (FER) and protein deposition ratio (PDR) were also significantly increased by adequate dietary leucine content (21.9 and 28.3 g kg-1) (p < 0.05). Adequate dietary leucine content (21.9 and 28.3 g kg-1) could significantly up-regulate the activities of metabolic enzymes, such as α amylase, trypsin, chymotrypsin and elastase in the liver of Black carp (p < 0.05). However, the activities of alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and leucine aminopeptidase (LAP) were significantly reduced in the fish serum by adequate dietary leucine content (21.9 and 28.3 g kg-1) compared with leucine-deficient diet (7.3 and 12.4 g kg-1). In addition, 21.9 and 28.3 g kg-1 dietary leucine could significantly increase complement component 3 (C3) and C4 contents, lysozyme (LYZ) activities in the serum compared with the leucine-deficient diet (7.3 and 12.4 g kg-1) (p < 0.05). Furthermore, optimal dietary leucine could also significantly up-regulate the mRNA expression levels of LYZ, interferon α (IFN-α), hepcidin (HEPC), natural resistance-associated macrophage protein (NRAMP), C3 and C9 in the blood of juvenile black carp compared with the leucine-deficient diets (7.3 and 12.4 g kg-1) (p < 0.05). In conclusion, these results suggest that adequate dietary leucine (21.9 and 28.3 g kg-1) could increase growth performances, improve metabolic abilities and then enhance non-specific immunities in black carp juveniles.

[The preparation of rabbit antiserum against gekko japonicus Hoxc10 and it's property identification].

AIM: Prepare the rabbit antiserum against gecko japonicus Hoxc10 and to identify its properties. METHODS: Prokaryotic expression vector of g-Hoxc10 were constructed and then transform into E.coli (BL21). To make GST-g-Hoxc10 fusion protein in E.coli (BL21) under the optimized induction of Isopropyl ß-D-1-thiogalactopyranoside(IPTG). The recombination proteins were purified using affinity chromatography. The purified fusion protein was inoculated into adult rabbits to develop antiserum. Western blot and immunohistochemistry staining were then performed to evaluate the feature of the prepared antiserum. RESULTS: Prokaryotic expression vectors of g-Hoxc10 were successfully constructed. The soluble recombinant protein was highly expressed in E.coli BL21 and inoculated into adult rabbits to obtain high titer antiserum. Western blot and immunohistochemistry staining were then performed to evaluate the specificity of the prepared antiserum. CONCLUSION: We successfully amplified and expressed the g-Hoxc10 in E.coli BL21. The purified fusion protein was inoculated into adult rabbits to develop antiserum. The obtained antiserum of g-Hoxc10 showed a high titer against Hoxc10 proteins. The protein and antiserum prepared in this study can be used for further research of the function investigation of Hoxc10.