Sexual dimorphism in response to repetitive bouts of acute aerobic exercise in rodents with type 1 diabetes mellitus.

The purpose of this study was to examine sex-specific differences in the blood glucose (BG) response to recurrent aerobic exercise in type 1 diabetes rats. Specifically, we examined the role of peak estrogen (E2) concentrations during proestrus on BG response to prolonged repetitive aerobic exercise. To do so, nineteen Sprague-Dawley rats were assigned to four exercised groups: control female (CXF; n = 5), control male (CXM; n = 5), diabetic female (DXF, n = 5) and diabetic male (DXM, n = 4). Diabetes was induced in DX groups via subcutaneous multiple injections of low dose streptozotocin (20mg/day for 7 days). After four days of exercise, muscle and liver glycogen content, liver gluconeogenic enzyme content, muscle Beta oxidation activity and BG responses to exercise were compared. The final bout of exercise took place during proestrus when E2 concentrations were at their highest in the female rats. During days 1-3 DXM had significantly lower BG concentrations during exercise than DXF. While both T1DM and non-T1DM females demonstrated higher hepatic G6Pase expression and muscle beta oxidation activity levels on day 4 exercise, no differences in BG response between the male and female T1DM rats were evident. Further, no differences in liver and muscle glycogen content following day 4 of exercise were seen between the sexes. These results would suggest that heightened E2 levels during proestrus may not be an important factor governing glucose counter regulatory response to exercise in female T1DM rats. Rather, the pre-exercise blood glucose levels are likely to be a large determinant of the blood glucose response to exercise in both male and female rats.

#Orthorexia on Instagram: a descriptive study exploring the online conversation and community using the Netlytic software.

Orthorexia nervosa (ON) is a relatively new phenomenon. The purpose of this study was to investigate (1) the #orthorexia conversation on Instagram (using the Netlytic software), and (2) among a random subsample of images (N = 245), analyse the types of images (N = 145) and author biographies (N = 68). Among the 4,533 downloaded records, there were 48,780 unique words associated with the posts, with the most commonly used being love (n = 535) and #edrecovery (n = 425). Among the images, the majority contained food (68%) and people (13%). Among the unique authors, the majority were female (84%) and mentioned ED (eating disorder) recovery and being food/fitness focused. The ON community on Instagram is relatively small and the positive conversation may suggest a supportive community that focuses on recovery and adopting healthier eating behaviours.Level of evidence Level V, descriptive study.