Independent and Combined Associations of Physical Activity and Screen Time With Biomarkers of Inflammation in Children and Adolescents With Overweight/Obesity.

PURPOSE: Inflammation regulation is important for obesity management and prevention of obesity-related diseases. This cross-sectional study aimed to analyze the independent and combined associations of physical activity and screen time with biomarkers of inflammation in children and adolescents with overweight/obesity. METHOD: A total of 1289 children and adolescents with overweight/obesity were included from the 2015 to 2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Multivariable linear regressions were conducted for the association analyses. RESULTS: For the independent associations, a negative dose-dependent relationship was demonstrated between physical activity and inflammatory biomarker high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) in adolescents with overweight/obesity (P < .001) but not children; screen time was not associated with hsCRP in both children and adolescents. No significant association was found between physical activity or screen time with other inflammatory biomarkers. For the combined associations, there was an interaction between physical activity and screen time on hsCRP in adolescents with overweight/obesity (P = .014). In addition, the negative association between physical activity and hsCRP was greater in boys compared with girls and in Hispanic and non-Hispanic Black individuals compared with non-Hispanic White individuals. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated a combined association of physical activity and screen time with inflammatory biomarker hsCRP in adolescents with overweight/obesity.

Dose- and Intensity-Response Associations Between Leisure-Time Physical Activity and Markers of Inflammation and Oxidative Stress in Older Adults.

This study aimed to investigate the dose- and intensity-response associations between leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) and markers of inflammation and oxidative stress in older adults. Multivariable linear regression was performed to evaluate the associations among 3,559 older adults in 2015-2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. LTPA was negatively associated with inflammatory markers including C-reactive protein, segmented neutrophil count and alkaline phosphatase, and positively associated with one marker of antioxidants albumin in older adults. Compared with vigorous LTPA, moderate LTPA could provide more benefits through further decreasing white blood cell count and alkaline phosphatase, and increasing serum bilirubin and albumin. The effects of LTPA on C-reactive protein and albumin were more significant in participants with chronic diseases including diabetes, hypertension, and cancer. In conclusion, this study demonstrates the dose- and intensity-response effects of LTPA on inflammation and oxidative stress and provides exercise prescription recommendations for older adults.

Effects of regular exercise on inflammasome activation-related inflammatory cytokine levels in older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Exercise has been found to play important roles in regulating inflammation, although the mechanisms are unclear. The present systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to investigate whether regular exercise could regulate inflammation through inflammasome activation signalling in older adults. Five databases were searched, and 19 randomised controlled trials (RCTs) studying effects of regular exercise on inflammasome activation-related inflammatory cytokines interleukin (IL)-1ß and IL-18 and other key molecules involved in inflammasome activation signalling such as NOD-like receptor family pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3), apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a caspase recruitment domain (ASC), caspase-1 in older adults aged 50 years or older were included. The results showed that regular exercise could significantly decrease the levels of IL-1ß and IL-18, important end-products of inflammasome activation in older adults. Subgroup analyses showed that aerobic exercise is the most effective training modality, and low-to-moderate intensity and mixed intensity are better compared with high intensity to decrease IL-1ß and IL-18. The effect of regular exercise on key molecules involved in inflammasome activation signalling including NLRP3, ASC and caspase-1 is understudied and needs to be further investigated. These findings demonstrate that regular exercise could effectively decrease inflammasome activation-related inflammatory cytokine levels in older adults.

Association of Salivary Helicobacter pylori Infection with Oral Diseases: a Cross-sectional Study in a Chinese Population.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to detect the prevalence of oral H.pylori among adults and to investigate the correlation between H.pylori infection and common oral diseases. STUDY DESIGN: A cross-sectional study was performed among adults Chinese who took their annual oral healthy examination at The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, China. RESULTS: The study included 1050 subjects in total and oral H.pylori infection occurred in 60.29% of the subjects. The prevalence rates of oral H.pylori in patients with periodontal diseases (63.42%) and caries (66.91%) were significantly increased than those without oral diseases (54.07%), respectively (P < 0.05), while the difference between subjects with recurrent aphthous stomatitis and controls was not significant. In addition, the differences of positive rates of H.pylori with or without history of gastric ulcer were statistically significant (69.47% vs 58.26%, P<0.05). Presenting with periodontal diseases (OR 1.473;95% CI 1.021 to 2.124), caries (OR 1.717; 1.127 to 2.618), and having history of gastric ulcer (OR 1.631; 1.164 to 2.285) increased the risk of H.pylori infection. CONCLUSIONS: Oral H.pylori infection is common in adult Chinese, which is significantly associated with oral diseases including periodontal diseases and caries.

A randomized double-blind placebo-controlled study of the efficacy of Clinpro XT varnish and Gluma dentin desensitizer on dentin hypersensitivity.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effect of Clinpro XT Varnish (VXT) paste-liquid, resin-modified glass-ionomer and the resinous dentin desensitizing varnish and Gluma Dentin Desensitizer (Gluma) in treating dentin hypersensitivity (DH). METHODS: This short-term (4-week) randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, split-mouth study included a total of 119 teeth from 31 individuals which were randomized into three groups: VXT, Gluma, and placebo (warm water). Dentin sensitivity was evaluated by subjects' perception of DH determined by pretreatment tooth sensitivity score (TSS) measured on a 0-10 visual analogue scale (VAS) after tactile (probe) or thermal/evaporative (blast of air) stimuli. TSS was scored at baseline, immediately after treatment (Day 0), after 1 week and after 4 weeks. RESULTS: For both stimuli, mean TSS was significantly decreased in the VXT and Gluma groups at all time points (all, P < 0.001) compared with baseline. Regarding comparisons of TSS between treatment groups, the VXT group had significantly lower mean TSS compared with the Gluma group (P< 0.05) and placebo control group (P< 0.05) at all time points after treatment regardless of stimuli. Group Effect, Time Effect, and Group x Time Effect were all significantly different (all, P < 0.001).

Dose-response relationship between leisure-time physical activity and biomarkers of inflammation and oxidative stress in overweight/obese populations.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to analyze the dose-response relationship between leisure-time physical activity and biomarkers of inflammation and oxidative stress in overweight/obese populations and provide exercise recommendations to regulate inflammation and oxidative stress and reduce the risk of developing obesity-related diseases. DESIGN: Second analysis of a cross-sectional study. METHODS: A total number of 4978 overweight/obese adults were included from the 2015-2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Multivariable regressions were conducted to investigate the dose-response relationship between leisure-time physical activity and biomarkers of inflammation and oxidative stress. Subgroup analyses based on the doses and intensities of physical activity and in different participants were performed to provide exercise recommendations. RESULTS: The results demonstrated that leisure-time physical activity was negatively associated with inflammatory biomarkers in both overweight and obese populations, and positively associated with antioxidant markers in obese populations. Overweight/obese populations performing leisure-time physical activity at 660-760 min/week (dose calculated as moderate leisure-time physical activity, equals 330-380 min/week vigorous leisure-time physical activity) demonstrated the lowest levels of inflammatory markers. Vigorous leisure-time physical activity was superior to moderate one for overweight/obese populations, especially for inflammation regulation. In addition, the regulatory effect of leisure-time physical activity on inflammation was more significant in overweight/obese populations with hypertension or stroke. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that overweight/obese populations can take vigorous-intensity leisure-time physical activity at 330-380 min/week (for example, 60 min/day, 6 days/week, metabolic equivalent = 8) to get the maximum health benefits in terms of inflammation and oxidative stress regulation.

Anti-inflammatory effect of exercise training through reducing inflammasome activation-related inflammatory cytokine levels in overweight/obese populations: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Exercise has been found to reduce chronic inflammation in obesity, however, whether exercise exerts an anti-inflammatory effect through regulating the inflammasome activation signaling in obesity remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the effect of exercise training on circulating levels of inflammasome activation-related inflammatory cytokines in overweight/obese populations using a systematic review and meta-analysis approach. METHODS: Six databases were searched from their inception to June 12th, 2021, and randomized controlled trials (RCTs) investigating the effect of exercise training on two end-products of inflammasome activation signaling IL-1ß and IL-18 in overweight/obese populations were included. Data were extracted and meta-analyses were performed. Risk of bias was assessed using the Cochrane Collaboration risk assessment tool and the certainty of evidence was graded using Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE). RESULTS: Of 3737 studies identified, 16 RCTs with 779 participants were included. The results demonstrated that exercise training could reduce circulating levels of inflammasome activation-related inflammatory cytokines IL-1ß and IL-18 in overweight/obese populations. Subgroup analyses showed that the regulatory effect of exercise on inflammasome activation was more significant in the obese but not overweight population, in females but not in males, with low-to-moderate exercise intensity, and with the duration of exercise intervention longer than eight weeks. CONCLUSION: Exercise training could regulate inflammation through reducing levels of inflammasome activation-related inflammatory cytokines in overweight/obese populations. Further research investigating the effect of exercise on other key molecules involved in the inflammasome activation signaling is highly needed.

ß-glucan Salecan Improves Exercise Performance and Displays Anti-Fatigue Effects through Regulating Energy Metabolism and Oxidative Stress in Mice.

Fatigue induced by prolonged exercise not only leads to the decrease of exercise capacity, but also might be the cause of many diseases. In consideration of the side effects of pharmacological drugs, dietary supplements seem to be a better choice to ameliorate exercise-induced fatigue. The present study aimed to investigate the anti-fatigue effect of Salecan, a novel water-soluble β-glucan, during exercise and explore the underlying mechanisms. Male Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) mice were divided into five groups, including the Rest group and the other four Swim-groups treated with Salecan at 0, 25, 50, and 100 mg/kg/day for four weeks. Salecan treatment markedly increased the exhaustive swimming time of mice in the forced swimming test. Exercise fatigue and injury-related biochemical biomarkers including lactate, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine kinase (CK), alanine transaminase (ALT), and aspartate transaminase (AST) were ameliorated by Salecan. Salecan reversed the decreased serum glucose levels and glycogen contents caused by exercise. In addition, Salecan improved oxidative stress induced by exercise through regulating Nrf2/HO⁻1/Trx signaling pathway. Thus, the beneficial effects of Salecan against fatigue may be due to its positive effects on energy metabolism and antioxidation defence. Our results suggest that Salecan could be a novel potential candidate for anti-fatigue dietary supplements.

Application of substrate utilization patterns and terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis to characterize the oral bacterial community of healthy subjects and patients with periodontitis.

Understanding the association between the bacterial community and oral health status is essential for the diagnosis and therapy of periodontal diseases. The aim of the present study was to apply three methods [conventional culture, substrate utilization using the MicroResp™ system and terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP)] to investigate the oral bacterial community in saliva from 20 healthy subjects and 20 patients with periodontitis. The three methods all revealed that there was a systematic change in the microbial ecological characteristics associated with oral health status. Compared with the control group, the oral bacterial flora in the patients with chronic periodontitis had a greater culturable population and altered preferred carbon source and TRFLP patterns. TRFLP analysis was found to give more information and exhibit a higher sensitivity than the substrate utilization and conventional culture methods. In conclusion, TRFLP analysis is a potentially rapid method to assess the composition of the oral microbial community and for the diagnosis of chronic periodontitis.

Protection of dietary polyphenols against oral cancer.

Oral cancer represents a health burden worldwide with approximate 275,000 new cases diagnosed annually. Its poor prognosis is due to local tumor invasion and frequent lymph node metastasis. Better understanding and development of novel treatments and chemo-preventive approaches for the preventive and therapeutic intervention of this type of cancer are necessary. Recent development of dietary polyphenols as cancer preventives and therapeutic agents is of great interest due to their antioxidant and anti-carcinogenic activities. Polyphenols may inhibit carcinogenesis in the stage of initiation, promotion, or progression. In particular, dietary polyphenols decrease incidence of carcinomas and exert protection against oral cancer by induction of cell death and inhibition of tumor growth, invasion, and metastasis. In this review, we discuss current progress of dietary polyphenols against oral cancers in vitro, in vivo, and at population levels.