Urine steroid profile of judo competitors affected by acute physical exercises.

A heterogeneous group of 10 male and 15 female judo players are utilized in this study. The subjects complete a standardized maximal treadmill exercise test. Urine samples are collected at the pre- and postexercise stages. The urine steroids are measured using a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry instrument. In rest and after exercise, significantly higher testosterone and epitestosterone concentrations in males (p < 0.01) are found. The etiocholanolone-dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) ratio is significantly lower in males than females (p < 0.05). In both males and females, etiocholanolone concentration significantly decreases with the effect of exercise (p < 0.05). 11-OH etiocholanolone concentration also significantly decreases, but only in females (p < 0.05). Positive correlation is found between the changes of the etiocholanolone and epitestosterone concentration caused by exercise.

Blood pressure and heart rate reactivity to mental strain in adolescent judo athletes.

This exploratory investigation examined the association between maximal aerobic power (VO2max) and blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) reactivity to mental challenge. Adolescent male judo athletes (n = 20) performed a 2-min mental arithmetic. Heart rate was recorded before, during, and after the arithmetic, and BP was recorded before and after the mental challenge. Blood pressure in the immediate stress-recovery period was not related to VO2max, but subjects having a higher maximal aerobic power showed faster HR recovery from mental stress than those having a lower VO2max. Subjects who showed earlier peak HR responses, during the stress episode, demonstrated lower average HR reactivity than subjects who attained the maximal HR response later in the stress period. The relationship between the interval to reach peak HR and the magnitude of reactivity deserves further attention. However, at present these findings should be viewed as tentative because of the uniqueness and size of the sample.

Gas-liquid chromatographic method for the determination of tolperisone in human plasma: pharmacokinetic and comparative bioavailability studies.

A new capillary GLC method for the determination of tolperisone in human plasma was developed. Pharmacokinetic and comparative bioavailability studies were carried out after i.v. administration and after oral administration of two different preparations of tolperisone. After i.v. administration of the drug the elimination half-life was found to be 1.55 +/- 0.7 h (mean +/- S.D.), the apparent volume of distribution to be 5.1 +/- 1.0 l/kg (mean +/- S.D.) and total body clearance to be 140.8 +/- 33.8 l/h (mean +/- S.D.). The oral bioavailability was found to be 22.3 +/- 6.3% for Mydeton tablets and 16.7 +/- 8.9% for Mydocalm tablets. There was no significant difference between the bioavailability of two oral tablets.

Comparison of running performances and prevalence of overweight and obesity in Hungarian and Ukrainian adolescents.

The 20-m shuttle run (20-mSRT) is a widely used field test to estimate peak oxygen consumption (VO2peak) and thus to assess aerobic fitness of adolescents (11). The purpose of this study was to analyse differences in basic anthropometric measurements (stature, body mass, percent body fat, BMI) and in aerobic fitness of Hungarian and Ukrainian adolescent boys and girls. We examined gender differences in maximal speed (km h-1), in peak VO2 (mL kg-1 min-1) and maximal heart rate (HRmax min-1). Two hundred ninety-two Ukrainian (mean age=16.5±0.5) and 374 (mean age=16.5±0.5) Hungarian adolescents volunteered to participate in this study. Differences were analysed using factorial analysis of the variance (ANOVA) and Student's t-test. Statistical significance was set at p<0.05. Hungarian boys and girls were significantly taller, heavier and had higher percent body fat than their Ukrainian counterparts. Altogether 10% of Hungarians and 7% of Ukrainians were classified overweight or obese according to Cole's BMI classification (4). VO2peak of Ukrainians (mean=49.44±5.29 mL kg-1 min-1) were significantly higher than that of Hungarians (mean=41.93±8.40 mL kg-1 min-1). Maximal heart rate also differed significantly (Ukrainians mean=201.12±8.43 min-1 vs. Hungarians mean=185.38±18.38 min-1).In conclusion, aerobic fitness of the Ukrainian adolescents was significantly higher than that of the Hungarians independently of BMI or gender.

Cardiac output and peripheral resistance of swim-trained rats under urethan anesthesia.

Several circulatory variables were determined in control and swim-trained white rats under urethan anesthesia. Trained animals exhibited significantly lower heart rate and cardiac index and significantly higher peripheral resistance than control animals. Blood pressure, systolic index and left ventricular work output were not statistically different in the two groups. These results suggest an alteration of resting cardiovascular regulation in trained animals. Beta adrenergic mechanisms are suppressed by increased parasympathetic tone, and the resting circulatory balance is maintained mainly by increased alfa adrenergic mechanisms.

A study of the effect of dietary factors and various exercises on the swimming performance of the albino rat.

In Experiment 1 a double-phase test diet (high-protein low-carbohydrate phase (HP): 5 days, high-carbohydrate phase (HC): 2 days) was compared to a normal diet by measuring all-out performance in rats trained by steady or interval swimming exercise. The tests carried out on the 8th day showed the swimming performance to be improved to a similar extent by the two training procedures, to be further improved by the test diet in the exercised animals; changes in liver glycogen, blood glucose and serum corticosterone reflected especially in the influence of exercise which in some cases was potentiated by the test diet. In Experiment 2 the 5 days of high protein intake were treated separately from the effect of the double-phase test diet as a whole in order to study the mechanism. These aminals were exercised by treadmill running of 7 days. Cytochrome P450 content of the liver rose under the effect of exercise as well as the HP phase, thus supplying additional evidence for the enzyme inducer effect of physical exertion. Glycogen decreased both in the muscle and liver during the HP phase and returned to normal after the HC phase. Liver glycogen rose to an even higher level than normal in the trained groups, but muscle glycogen values remained lower, this may be related to the shortness of training and to an accelerated rate of turnover. High protein intake associated with a depletion of carbohydrate stores was found to have an effect of its own which, when followed by replenishment of calories reserves, might be used to advantage in improving physical performance.

The medical aspects of doping.

One of the crucial problems in the competitive sports of our days is the illicit use of drugs in increasing physical performance. The moral, professional, and legal responsibility of the physicians having a role in doping is quite explicit. Sports medicine can significantly contribute to the repression of doping; due to the diverging interests, however, it will not be able to solve it alone. The paper reviews the development and background of doping and, relying on the list issued by the International Olympic Committee, on banned drugs discusses the intended and adverse effects of the drug classes used for doping. Cases of doping detected at the Seoul Olympic Games are presented and a brief survey is given of the means that should be used for check-up.

An approach to primary prevention from the aspect of applied physiology.

The main reason for our decreasing population number--a most remarkable indicator of the inadequacy of our health culture--is the high rate of overall mortality. In its background one finds a number of risk factors of high prevalence, such as hypertension disease, addiction pathology, reduced stress tolerance as well as physical and psychic inactivity. Patterns of life that are positive are scarce and as yet not attractive or efficient. The spirit of primary prevention is yet far from permeating medicine; the most the clinical side did realize has been a recognition of the population's need for regular medical screenings. A completely new approach that involves prevention programs embracing the whole of society, and an elaboration of new strategies are badly needed to achieve a desirable change in the present set of values. One of the already available remedies is to give full and science-based support to the positive life patterns in our culture, for instance by demonstrating how physiology can be applied to human life, by putting the latter within a broader scope, namely that of psychophysiology and social psychology. In this framework the elements to be discussed are such aspects of culture as dietary habits, physical exercise, and mental and sexual hygiene. Placing greater emphasis on sports and intense habitual physical exercise can promote a healthier lifestyle, above all in our youth.

Enzyme inducing effect of muscular exertion in the rat.

The activity of hexobarbital oxidase in vivo was found to be higher in rats forced to swim regularly (sleeping time studies). The enzyme inducing effect of spironolactone and norandrostenolone was reduced in trianed animals. Inactivation of the inducing agents is suggested to be faster in animals trained by swimming. The difference observed between test and control sleeping times was ascribed to an increased capacity of the liver to inactivate hexobarbital, while an alteration of central nervous responsiveness could be excluded since the difference in serum hexobarbital concentratios was negligible when the animals awoke. Elimination of canrenone (dethioacetylated spironolactone) was faster in trained rats. Immediately after the swimming exercise hexobarbital elimination was slower in both the trained and the control groups. Accelerated elimination, a characteristic of physical fitness, could be observed to return 5 hours after terminating the exercise.

Sensitivity to catecholamines and histamine in the trained and in the untrained human organism and sensitivity changes during digestion.

Blood pressure and heart rate responses elicited by norepinephrine, epinephrine and histamine were compared before and after duodenal acidification in 27 trained and untrained young healthy men. Before acidification trained subjects showed a lower sensitivity to norepinephrine and histamine and a slightly lower one to epinephrine. In order to explain these phenomena physical training was supposed to affect alpha, respectively beta adrenergic responsivity in a dissimilar manner. This suggestion was confirmed by the isoproterenol studies, too. Duodenal acidification decreased the catecholamine-induced pressor responses. Depressor responses to histamine did not change in the untrained subjects, whereas they increased in the trained group. Thus, during digestion the histamine-induced depressor responses of trained subjects tended to approach that of untrained people.

Studies on the lysosomal enzyme system of the liver in rats undergoing swimming training.

Lysosomal acid phosphatase, beta-glucuronidase, and cathepsin-D were studied in liver cell fractions of rats regularly exercised by swimming. On the 21st day of the training, enzyme activities in the extralysosomal fraction and in the lysosomal fraction were higher and lower, respectively, than in the untrained controls. On the 40th day an increased enzyme activity was found in both fractions. By the end of the training period (54th and 80th days), a slightly decreased activity was recorded in both fractions. Lysosomal membrane permeability for enzymes was higher during the first period of the training, in particular when estimated under hypotonic conditions. Regular swimming training or 12-day treatment by ACTH stabilized the membrane of the liver lysosomes. This stabilization was believed to be mediated by corticosteroids mobilized by exercise or by the administration of ACTH.

Effect of immobilisation on the catecholamine- and histamine-induced responses of blood pressure and pulse rate in rats adapted to swimming and in controls.

Blood pressure and pulse rate responses to noradrenaline, isoproterenol and histamine were studied in restrained albino rats adapted to swimming and in controls. In the early phase of immobilization blood pressure remained stable but fell then abruptly to a lower level. The pulse rate showed a time-related exponential decline which was of lesser degree in the animals adapted to swimming. The amplitude of the response to noradrenaline increased during the four hours of immobilisation, in opposition to the histamine and isoproterenol-induced responses which showed no time-related changes. No differences between the trained animals and the controls were demonstrable for noradrenaline and histamine, while the isoproterenol-induced responses differed also during immobilisation. The comparatively slow decline of pulse rate in the trained animals is primarily attributed to the increased resistance of the trained heart, and the difference in the isoproterenol-induced responses is connected with an enhanced responsiveness of the beta-adrenergic receptors of the trained organism.

Use of Hungarian milk-protein products in sport.

Protein-based food products intended for athletes--(Hamomid powder and tablets, Amino-acid Capsules)--were studied for absorption, elimination and excretion. On the evidence of the findings all were readily absorbed, the serum amino-acid levels attained their peaks 60 to 90 min after ingestion of the daily dose. At the end of 10 day periods during which the products in question had been administered a minor increase was found in the urinary excretion of alpha-aminonitrogen.