Dreaming while awake: The beneficial effects of yoga Nidra on mental and physical recovery in two elite karate athletes.

Yoga Nidra (YN) naturally stimulates a hypnagogic state wherein an individual is physiologically asleep yet maintains a certain awareness to follow a guide's instructions. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of this aware sleep state on recovery-stress balance in two elite karate athletes adopting an idiosyncratic and multimodal approach. One male and one female athlete underwent a YN intervention. Before intervention, after intervention and three weeks later, recovery-stress balance specific scales, perceived stress, cognitive and somatic anxiety, subjective and objective sleep quality, and individual alpha peak frequency (iAPF) values were assessed. Perceived quality of recovery was continuously monitored for three months including the period of the investigation. Feelings and arousal levels before and after each YN session were also examined. Our results showed a YN general positive effect; however, the intervention had higher sport specific effects in the male compared to the female athlete. On the other hand, in the female athlete, YN seems to have effects both from an emotional and physical point of view. We also noted the intertwined relationship among interoception, perceived stress and YN effects. Also, findings suggest that iAPF modulation reflected improved recovery skills or a better control of stressful situations, while the acute effects on arousal levels were expression of anxiety or energy reduction. Overall, YN improved both the perceived quality of recovery and sleep quality, shedding light on the importance of YN for recovery-stress balance enhancement in the sport context.

Influence of climatic conditions on the link between oxidative stress balance and landfill utilisation as a food resource by white storks.

Landfills have played a significant role in the recovery of white storks (Ciconia ciconia) populations across various European countries. While there is ample information about the populational-level effects, there is a lack of knowledge regarding the individual effects of using this food resource for feeding nestlings. This study aims to assess the nutritional status and oxidative stress balance of nestlings with varying degrees of exposure to landfill-provided food This study aims to assess the nutritional status and oxidative stress balance of nestlings with different use of landfill-provided food. Nestlings fed with food foraged by breeding pairs from landfills exhibited better nutritional status compared to individuals located farther from landfills. This can be attributed to a higher ingestion rate, resulting in increased plasmatic values of cholesterol, triglycerides, and HDL in plasma. However, the oxidative stress balance varied across different years, with individuals raised in 2014 showing higher values of Vitamin E and lower values of LDH compared to those raised in 2013. Furthermore, the impact of landfills on certain oxidative stress parameters also depended on the year of study. In 2013, the Total Antioxidant Capacity (TAC) of plasma showed a positive correlation with the distance to landfills, while the concentration of Malondialdehyde (MDA), an indicator of lipid peroxidation, exhibited a negative correlation. These findings suggest that the use of landfills as a food resource has a consistently positive effect on the nutritional status of white stork nestling. However, the relationship with oxidative stress is highly dependent on the climatic conditions of each year, emphasizing the importance of considering these factors when evaluating the use of landfills as a food resource.

Redox Status of Postmenopausal Women with Single or Multiple Cardiometabolic Diseases Has a Similar Response to Mat Pilates Training.

Postmenopausal women have a high prevalence of cardiometabolic diseases and that may associate with higher oxidative stress. Exercise can contribute to the treatment of such diseases, but some modalities, such as Mat Pilates, need to be further studied in terms of their physiological responses. Our aim was to investigate the effects of 12 weeks of Mat Pilates on redox status in postmenopausal women with one or multiple comorbidities of cardiometabolic diseases. Forty-four postmenopausal women were divided into two groups: SINGLE, composed of women with one cardiometabolic disease (n = 20) and MULT, with multimorbidity (n = 24). Mat Pilates training was conducted three times a week for 12 weeks, and each session lasted 50 min. Plasma samples were collected before and after training to analyze the following redox markers: superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase, total antioxidant capacity due to ferric-reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), reduced glutathione (GSH), uric acid, and carbonyl protein. ANCOVA showed interaction effects in FRAP (p = 0.014). Both groups had reduced levels of catalase (p = 0.240) and GSH (p = 0.309), and increased levels of carbonyl protein (p = 0.053) after intervention. In conclusion, the redox status of postmenopausal women shows no changes mediated by Mat Pilates training between SINGLE and MULT, except for greater reductions of FRAP in SINGLE.

Synthetic antioxidants from a natural source can overtake the oncogenic stress management system and activate the stress­sensitized death of KSHV­infected cancer cells.

Synthetic and modified natural derivatives are reported as potential bioactive compounds and are being used therapeutically against various diseases in a widespread manner nowadays. Cancerous cells exhibit high levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) internally, and thus successfully manage to sustain themselves and proliferate via antioxidative mechanisms that maintain a redox balance. On this note, various antioxidants are applied as anticancer compounds, which strategically affects the ongoing oncogenic stress management system in both a pro­ and antioxidative manner, resulting in cancer restriction, as well as sustaining cell proliferation via antioxidative mechanisms that promote cancer progression. Alike non­viral cancers, viral cancers exhibit varying levels of ROS during different stages of cancer progression. Hence, successful stress balance should be addressed, depending on the cancer cell stress response during the therapeutic management. The application of antioxidants is crucial and needs to be carefully designed in such cases; the respective underlying mechanisms are less understood. The role of antioxidants controlling the varied levels of stress response at different stages of Kaposi's sarcoma­associated herpes virus malignancy have not been fully reported. Therefore, the present study aimed to analyze the activity of certain antioxidants in KSHV­infected oncogenic cells. For this purpose, two naturally derived flavonoid­based antioxidants (theaflavin and novel curcumin derivatives) were selected and tested in different KSHV­infected cell lines. The findings presented herein demonstrate that these compounds can successfully induce the death of different KSHV­positive cells and can restrict the growth of KSHV­infected cell lines restricting viral reactivation by counteracting the oncogenic stress management system.

A Nudibranch Marine Extract Selectively Chemosensitizes Colorectal Cancer Cells by Inducing ROS-Mediated Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress.

The present study shows the putative antiproliferative mechanism of action of the previously analytically characterized nudibranch extract (Dolabella auricularia, NB) and its different effects in colon cancer cells vs. nontumor colon cells. NB extract increased the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and increased endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress via stimulation of the unfolded protein response. Stress scavengers, N-acetylcysteine (NAC) and 4-phenylbutyric acid (4-PBA), decreased the stress induced by NB. The results showed that NB extract increased ER stress through overproduction of ROS in superinvasive colon cancer cells, decreased their resistance threshold, and produced a nonreturn level of ER stress, causing DNA damage and cell cycle arrest, which prevented them from achieving hyperproliferative capacity and migrating to and invading other tissues. On the contrary, NB extract had a considerably lower effect on nontumor human colon cells, suggesting a selective effect related to stress balance homeostasis. In conclusion, our results confirm that the growth and malignancy of colon cancer cells can be decreased by marine compounds through the modification of one of the most potent resistance mechanisms present in tumor cells; this characteristic differentiates cancer cells from nontumor cells in terms of stress balance.

Metabolite Biomarkers of Leishmania Antimony Resistance.

Leishmania parasites cause leishmaniasis, one of the most epidemiologically important neglected tropical diseases. Leishmania exhibits a high ability of developing drug resistance, and drug resistance is one of the main threats to public health, as it is associated with increased incidence, mortality, and healthcare costs. The antimonial drug is the main historically implemented drug for leishmaniasis. Nevertheless, even though antimony resistance has been widely documented, the mechanisms involved are not completely understood. In this study, we aimed to identify potential metabolite biomarkers of antimony resistance that could improve leishmaniasis treatment. Here, using L. tropica promastigotes as the biological model, we showed that the level of response to antimony can be potentially predicted using 1H-NMR-based metabolomic profiling. Antimony-resistant parasites exhibited differences in metabolite composition at the intracellular and extracellular levels, suggesting that a metabolic remodeling is required to combat the drug. Simple and time-saving exometabolomic analysis can be efficiently used for the differentiation of sensitive and resistant parasites. Our findings suggest that changes in metabolite composition are associated with an optimized response to the osmotic/oxidative stress and a rearrangement of carbon-energy metabolism. The activation of energy metabolism can be linked to the high energy requirement during the antioxidant stress response. We also found that metabolites such as proline and lactate change linearly with the level of resistance to antimony, showing a close relationship with the parasite's efficiency of drug resistance. A list of potential metabolite biomarkers is described and discussed.

A multidisciplinary approach to the evaluation of the effects of foraging on landfills on white stork nestlings.

The use of landfills as foraging areas by white storks (Ciconia ciconia) is a recent well-known behaviour. While several studies have highlighted positive effects at a populational level others suggest that the presence of pollutants, pathogens and the lower presence of antioxidants in the food could pose a health risk for individuals. The objective of this study was to evaluate potential effects of the use of landfills as a food resource on the physiology and health of white stork nestlings, by a multidisciplinary approach based on the analysis of nutritional status, body condition, blood parameters, oxidative stress balance and the presence of pathogens. Results showed better body condition in individuals associated with landfills compared to the ones feeding on natural resources, as well as better nutritional status, as indicated by higher levels of albumin, cholesterol, and triglycerides in plasma. As many pollutants have a pro-oxidant effect, we evaluated oxidative stress balance, with no differences in the indicators of damage except for methaemoglobin (metHb), significantly higher in nestlings associated with landfill-origin food. Regarding antioxidants, GSH was higher in nestlings associated with landfills, which may suggest a hormetic response induced potentially by the presence of pollutants in waste. Nestlings fed food from landfills also had a higher presence of Escherichia coli with a multiresistant phenotype to antibiotics. In conclusion, our results show that nestlings fed with a higher proportion of food from landfills present a better nutritional status and body condition than those fed with a higher proportion of natural diet, being the only indicators of negative effects of the use of this food resource the higher percentage of metHb in the peripheral blood and the presence of antibiotic-resistant E. coli.

Social environment improves immune function and redox state in several organs from prematurely aging female mice and increases their lifespan.

Aging is associated with a chronic oxidative stress (increase of oxidants and decrease of antioxidants), which contributes to immunosenescence and therefore shorter longevity. Nevertheless, a positive social network has been related to the adequate maintenance of health and deceleration of aging. Adult prematurely aging mice (PAM) are characterized by their inadequate stress response to a T-maze, showing premature immunosenescence and oxidative stress establishment. These impairments contribute to shorter life spans in comparison to exceptional non-PAM (ENPAM). However, it is not known whether these characteristics of PAM could be prevented by a positive cohabitation. Therefore, the aim of the present work was to determine if the premature immunosenescence and oxidative stress shown by PAM could be avoided by the cohabitation with ENPAM, increasing their life span. Female CD1 PAM and ENPAM were divided into three experimental groups: PAM controls, ENPAM controls and a social environment experimental group, containing in the same cage ENPAM and PAM (proportion 5/2, respectively). After 2 months, mice were sacrificed and spleen, thymus, liver and heart removed. Later, several immune functions as well as oxidative stress parameters were assessed in spleen and thymus leukocytes. Also, several oxidative stress parameters were analyzed in liver and heart. The results showed that PAM, after co-housing with ENPAM, had improved immune functions and redox balance in spleen and thymus leukocytes. This improvement of redox state was also observed in liver and heart. Furthermore, all these positive effects seem to be related to the increased life span of PAM.

Selected oxidative stress biomarkers in antenatal diagnosis as 11-14 gestational weeks.

The primary objective in modern obstetrics and prenatal diagnosis is to predict risks of congenital abnormalities. The aim of the research was to assess the correlation between selected oxidative stress biomarkers with the risk of foetal chromosomal aberration evaluated at the first trimester screening. A series of studies show that balanced free radical activity and oxidative homeostasis are essential for proper bodily growth and function. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) may be one of the factors associated with disruption of cell cycle and tissue development, thus leading to developmental abnormalities. That's why it's so important to examine connection between level of oxidative stress and congenital abnormalities. Using ultrasonography examinations between 11-13+6d gestational weeks combined with serum levels of pregnancy associated plasma protein A and human chorionic gonadotropin and spectrophotometric analysis of oxidative stress markers such as glutathione (GSH), S-transferase, S-nitrosothiols (RSNO), trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC), protein and nitrites we tried to find correlation between birth defects and oxidative stress status. In conclusion, our analysis suggests that elevated maternal serum levels of protein, S-transferase and TEAC as well as decreased maternal serum levels of GSH and protein correlated with the risk of chromosomal aberrations and congenital developmental defects in a foetus.

Athletic performance and recovery-stress factors in cycling: An ever changing balance.

We sought to examine whether the relationship between recovery-stress factors and performance would differ at the beginning (Stage 1) and the end (Final Stage) of a multi-stage cycling competition. Sixty-seven cyclists with a mean age of 21.90 years (SD = 1.60) and extensive international experience participated in the study. The cyclists responded to the Recovery-Stress Questionnaire for Athletes (RESTQ-Sport) and rated their performance (1 = extremely poor to 10 = excellent) in respect to the first and last stage. Two step-down multiple regression models were used to estimate the relationship among recovery (nine factors; e.g. Physical Recovery, Sleep Quality) and stress factors (10 factors; e.g. Lack of Energy, Physical Complaints), as assessed by the RESTQ-Sport and in relation to performance. Model 1 pertained to Stage 1, whereas Model 2 used data from the Final Stage. The final Model 1 revealed that Physical Recovery (ß = .46, p = .01), Injury (ß = -.31, p = .01) and General Well-being (ß = -.26, p = .04) predicted performance in Stage 1 (R(2) = .21). The final Model 2 revealed a different relationship between recovery-stress factors and performance. Specifically, being a climber (ß = .28, p = .01), Conflicts/Pressure (ß = .33, p = .01), and Lack of Energy (ß = -.37, p = .01) were associated with performance at the Final Stage (R(2) = .19). Collectively, these results suggest that the relationship among recovery and stress factors changes greatly over a relatively short period of time, and dynamically influences performance in multi-stage competitions.