Predictive Ability of the 2-Minute Step Test for Functional Fitness in Older Individuals with Hypertension.

BACKGROUND: The 2-minute step test (2MST) is a simple and inexpensive functional test that measures an individual's ability to perform continuous stepping up and down on a step platform for two minutes. This study evaluated the 2MST as a tool for assessing functional fitness in older individuals with hypertension and determined the correlation between the 2MST and physical fitness tests. METHODS: A total of 91 older individuals with hypertension performed physical fitness tests, including the 2MST, 6-minute walk test (6MWT), five times sit-to-stand test (FTSST), grip strength and leg strength assessments, and timed up and go test (TUG) to collectively assess their physical fitness. RESULTS: A cutoff score of ≤60 steps in the 2MST had 87.50% sensitivity and 70.59% specificity in predicting functional exercise performance in older individuals with hypertension. Additionally, the number of steps in the 2MST was positively correlated with the distance covered in the 6MWT, isometric grip strength, and isometric leg strength and negatively correlated with the duration of the FTSST and TUG. CONCLUSIONS: A cutoff score of ≤60 steps in the 2MST predicted functional exercise performance in older individuals with hypertension with 87.50% sensitivity and 70.59% specificity and was correlated with other physical fitness tests, suggesting that the 2MST is a useful tool for assessing functional exercise performance.

Elastic band resistance combined with modified Thai yoga exercise to alleviate oxidative stress and airway inflammation in type 2 diabetes mellitus.

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of the combination of elastic band resistance exercise (EBRE) with modified Thai yoga on the alleviation of blood glucose and oxidative stress in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Forty-two patients with T2DM were enrolled and allocated to an exercise or control group (n=21/group). The exercise group participated in EBRE combination with modified Thai yoga for 40 min, 5 days/wk, for 12 consecutive weeks. Blood glucose, oxidative stress markers, antioxidants, pulmonary function, respiratory muscle strength, and airway inflammation were measured before and after the 12 weeks. The results showed that the exercise group had a significant reduction in fasting blood glucose and glycated hemoglobin. Moreover, T2DM patients in the exercise group showed a significant reduction in plasma malondialdehyde, while superoxide dismutase and catalase were significantly increased. The exercise group also observed a significant improvement in pulmonary function; forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1), forced vital capacity (FVC), FEV1/FVC, peak expiratory flow, and forced midexpiratory flow as well as respiratory muscle strength. Interestingly, the combination of EBRE with modified Thai yoga markedly improved airway inflammation through the reduction in fractional exhaled nitric oxide. In conclusion, these findings suggest that the combination of EBRE with modified Thai yoga improves blood glucose, oxidative stress, antioxidants, pulmonary function, respiratory muscle strength, and airway inflammation in T2DM patients. Hence, it could be considered as a possible exercise program for T2DM patients.

Oxidative stress associated with impaired autonomic control and severity of lung function in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients.

Oxidative stress has been suggested to play a role in the pathogenesis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This study aimed to investigate a link between malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, pulmonary function, and cardiac autonomic control in patients with COPD. Plasma levels of MDA, heart rate variability, and pulmonary function were measured in 50 clinically stable COPD patients and 50 normal male controls. COPD patients exhibited lower means of the standard deviations of all normal to normal (NN) intervals (SDNN), the square root of the mean of the sum of the squares of differences between adjacent NN intervals (RMSSD), and high frequency (HF). Nevertheless, they presented greater low frequency (LF) and low frequency/high frequency ratio (LF/HF ratio) in supine and head-up tilt positions than controls (P<0.001). More-over, a negative correlation between MDA levels with SDNN (P<0.001) and a positive correlation with LF (P<0.01) and LF/HF ratio (P<0.05) were observed in both positions. In COPD patients, plasma MDA levels were 2.3 times greater than controls (4.33±2.03 µM vs. 1.89±0.39 µM, P<0.001), and they were inversely correlated with forced vital capacity, forced expiratory volume in 1 sec, midexpiratory flow, and peak expiratory flow (P<0.001). Our findings suggest a potential role for oxidative stress in impaired cardiac autonomic control and clinical relevance of plasma MDA levels as a predictor of severity of COPD in COPD patients.

Pinostrobin alleviates chronic restraint stress­induced cognitive impairment by modulating oxidative stress and the function of astrocytes in the hippocampus of rats.

Chronic stress has been recognized to induce the alterations of neuronal and glial cells in the hippocampus, and is thus implicated in cognitive dysfunction. There is increasing evidence to indicate that natural compounds capable of exerting neuroprotective and antioxidant activities, may function as potential therapeutic agents for cognitive impairment. The present study examined the neuroprotective effects of pinostrobin from Boesenbergia rotunda (L.) against chronic restraint stress (CRS)-induced cognitive impairment associated with the alterations of oxidative stress, neuronal density and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) of astrocytes in the hippocampus. For this purpose, male Wistar rats were administered once daily with pinostrobin (20 and 40 mg/kg, per os) prior to exposure to CRS (6 h/day) for 21 days. The cognitive behaviors, the concentration of malondialdehyde, and the activities of superoxide dismutase and catalase were determined. Histologically, the alterations in astrocytic GFAP and excitatory amino acid transporter 2 (EAAT2) in the hippocampus were examined. The results revealed that pinostrobin potentially attenuated cognitive impairment in the Y-maze and in novel object recognition tests, with a reduction in oxidative stress. Furthermore, pinostrobin effectively increased neuronal density, as well as the immunoreactivities of GFAP and EAAT2 in the hippocampus. Taken together, these findings indicate that treatment with pinostrobin alleviates chronic stress-induced cognitive impairment by exerting antioxidant effects, reducing neuronal cell damage, and improving the function of astrocytic GFAP and EAAT2. Thus, pinostrobin may have potential for use as a neuroprotective agent to protect against chronic stress-induced brain dysfunction and cognitive deficits.

Pinostrobin mitigates neurodegeneration through an up-regulation of antioxidants and GDNF in a rat model of Parkinson's disease.

Background: One of the most common neurodegenerative diseases is Parkinson's disease (PD); PD is characterized by a reduction of neurons containing dopamine in the substantia nigra (SN), which leads to a lack of dopamine (DA) in nigrostriatal pathways, resulting in motor function disorders. Oxidative stress is considered as one of the etiologies involved in dopaminergic neuronal loss. Thus, we aimed to investigate the neuroprotective effects of pinostrobin (PB), a bioflavonoid extracted from Boesenbergia rotunda with antioxidative activity in PD. Methods: Rats were treated with 40 mg/kg of PB for seven consecutive days before and after 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP)-induced PD. After completing the experiment, the brains including SN and striatum were used for histological studies and biochemical assays. Results: PB treatment demonstrated a reduction of free radicals in the SN as indicated by significantly decreased MDA levels, whereas the antioxidative enzymes (SOD and GSH) were significantly increased. Furthermore, PB treatment significantly increased glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) immunolabelling which has neurotrophic and neuroprotective effects on the survival of dopaminergic neurons. Furthermore, PB treatment was shown to protect CA1 and CA3 neurons in the hippocampus and dopaminergic neurons in the SN. DA levels in the SN were increased after PB treatment, leading to the improvement of motor function of PD rats. Conclusions: These results imply that PB prevents MPTP-induced neurotoxicity via its antioxidant activities and increases GDNF levels, which may contribute to the therapeutic strategy for PD.

The optimal cutoff score of the 2-min step test and its association with physical fitness in type 2 diabetes mellitus.

This study was carried out to evaluate sensitivity, specificity, and test cutoff score to predict cardiorespiratory fitness by using the 2-min step test (2MST) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellites (DM). The association of the 2MST and physical fitness tests including a 6-min walk test (6MWT), a 5 time sit-to-stand test (FTSST), and leg strength in the form of a leg performance test were also investigated. This study was cross-sectional and conducted in 100 type 2 DM patients. Patients were screened through health questionnaires, medical illness, general characteristics, and physical fitness tests; 2MST, 6MWT, FTSST, and leg strength. Blood was collected for assessment of fasting blood sugar and lipid profiles. The number of steps in the 2MST was positively correlated with the distance of the 6MWT (r=0.6995, P<0.0001) and leg strength (r=0.4292, P<0.0001). 2MST was negatively correlated with time to perform the FTSST (r=-0.405, P<0.0001). Moreover, this study established the optimal cutoff score of the 2MST at ≤61 steps with 92.24% sensitivity, and 81.36% specificity to predict cardiorespiratory fitness in type 2 DM patients. Our findings indicate that the 2MST may be used as a predictor for walking capacity, leg strength, and ability to change position from sitting to standing in type 2 DM. In addition, this result may imply that patients with type 2 DM performing the 2MST at less than 61 steps was significantly associated with decreased cardiorespiratory fitness.