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Introduction Acupuncture is used in sports medicine to treat pain as well as improving athlete’s performance. Acupuncture stimulates the nerves and appears to affect the motor cortex. The drop jump (DJ) is a basic training method for enhancing lower extremity strength and jumping height in this study, acupuncture was used to stimulate nerve activation and observe the effect on individual’s performance in the DJ task. Methods Twenty-two male sports students volunteered to participate in sessions consisting of 3 DJ trials, from heights of 30, 40 and 50 cm (DJH30, DJH40, and DJH50, respectively). Data was collected before (pretest) and 20 minutes after acupuncture (posttest); three testing sessions were performed at 7-day intervals. Results After acupuncture, the impact of the peak ground reaction force was decreased during the posttest at drop jump height of 50 cm (DJH50), and the peak joint moment in the right ankle was increased under the same conditions. Additionally, the angles of the knee and ankle joints in the right leg were increased in the DJH50 posttest. Therefore, acupuncture achieved high levels of improvement within a modest intervention period, reducing pain and increasing knee joint flexion amplitude. Acupuncture did not change the jump height. However, the ground reaction force was reduced in the DJH50 posttest. Conclusions Acupuncture reduces the impact force during landing and could be used to reduce the risk of sports injury.

This study investigated the effect of dietary fish oil on systemic inflammation and hepatic injury in mice with polymicrobial sepsis. Male ICR mice were assigned to a control group (C, n=30) and a fish oil group (FO, n=30). Mice in the C group were fed a semi-purified diet with 10% soybean oil, and those in the FO group were fed a fish oil diet (2.5% fish oil+7.5% soybean oil; w/w). Three weeks later, sepsis was induced by cecal ligation and puncture (CLP), and mice were sacrificed at 0, 6 and 24 h after CLP, respectively. Results showed that compared with C group, the FO group had lower plasma levels of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-6, IL-10, and nitrite at 6 and 24 h after CLP. Also, peritoneal lavage fluid concentrations of TNF-α and prostaglandin (PG) E2 were significantly lower at 24 h in the FO than in the C group. The FO group had lower myeloperoxidase activities at 6 h after CLP in various organs. Plasma aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase activities revealed significantly decreased in the FO group. The DNA-binding activity of peroxisome proliferators-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) and mRNA expression of I kappaB alpha (IκBα) were up-regulated while nuclear factor (NF)-κB p65 DNA-binding activity, inducible nitric oxide synthase protein expression and the concentration of nitrotyrosine were significantly decreased in the FO group in liver after CLP. These results indicate that dietary fish oil administration may attenuate systemic inflammation and up-regulate hepatic PPARγ DNA-binding activity, which may consequently have ameliorated liver injury in these septic mice.

Objective To assess the relationship between antimullerian hormone (AMH) and parameters related to polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Design Prospective study. Setting Academic tertiary care center. Patient(s) A total of 290 women. Intervention(s) None. Main Outcome Measure(s) Parameters related to insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome. Result(s) Women with polycystic ovary morphology had significantly higher AMH levels than women in the control group. The prevalence of PCOS increased from 21% in the low-AMH ( 11 ng/mL) group. However, significant differences in insulin resistance parameters were not observed among groups. The results of the correlation analysis revealed that AMH levels were positively correlated with LH, total T, A, and total cholesterol content; however, AMH levels were negatively correlated with age, body mass index, and the number of menstrual cycles per year. AMH levels were not correlated with insulin resistance parameters. Conclusion(s) Elevated serum AMH levels increase the risk of PCOS but do not affect the risk of insulin resistance or metabolic syndrome.

This study investigated the effects of fish oil on adhesion molecule expression and tissue myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity in hypercholesterolemic mice with sepsis. There were one control and two experimental groups in this study. The control group (C) was fed a regular chow diet for 7 weeks, while hypercholesterolemia in the experimental group was induced by feeding a high-fat diet (20%, w/w) with cholesterol (2%, w/w) for 4 weeks. Then the experimental group was divided into two subgroups with identical nutrient distributions except that one subgroup was fed soybean oil (SO), while part of the soybean oil was replaced by fish oil (FO) in the other one for 3 weeks. After feeding the diets for 7 weeks, sepsis was induced in all three groups by cecal and ligation and puncture (CLP), and mice were sacrificed at 0, 6 or 24 h after CLP, respectively. The results showed that the FO group had a higher intracellular interferon-γ/interleukin-4 ratio and lower tumor necrosis factor-α and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 concentrations in peritoneal lavage fluid at 6 h after CLP than those in the C and SO groups. Lymphocyte CD11a/CD18 expressions were higher at 0 and 6 h and neutrophil CD11b/CD18 were higher at 6 h in the SO group than in the FO and C groups. The SO group had higher plasma intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM)-1 levels than C group at 0 and 6 h, whereas no difference in ICAM-1 concentrations were observed between the C and FO groups at 0 h after CLP. Hypercholesterolemia resulted in higher tissue MPO activities. There were no differences in MPO activities in various organs between the two experimental groups. These results suggest that hypercholesterolemic mice fed FO did not exhibit immunosuppression when complicated with sepsis. FO administration reduced adhesion molecule expressions and inflammatory-related mediators at the site of injury at an early but not a late stage of sepsis. However, compared with the SO group, the influences of FO on MPO activities in various organs were not obvious in hypercholesterolemic mice with sepsis.

In this study, we attempted to evaluate changes in sulfur-containing amino acid (SCAA) metabolism after short-term high-dose alcohol ingestion. At the beginning of the study, six animals were sacrificed as the baseline group and then other animals in the experiment were consecutively gavaged with alcohol (30%, 3 g/kg) for 7 days. Animals (n=6 each) were subsequently sacrificed at the time points of Days 1 (Group E1), 3 (Group E3) and 7 (Group E7). Blood samples and selected tissues were collected at each time interval. SCAA, pyridoxal phosphate (PLP) and glutathione (GSH) levels were analyzed. Results showed that taurine levels of tissues (brain, liver, heart and kidneys) all declined after the ethanol intervention and continued to decrease in selected tissues except the brain during the experiment. Furthermore, the trends of plasma taurine and PLP contents were highly correlated (r=.98, P=.045). A similar utilization pattern of plasma taurine and PLP indicated that transsulfuration preferred taurine production to GSH synthesis. The trend of plasma taurine levels being positively correlated with PLP levels reveals that dramatic transsulfuration occurred to meet the urgent demand for taurine by brain cells. In conclusion, we reported that continual alcohol ingestion alters SCAA utilization, especially by depletion of taurine and hypotaurine and by elevation of S-adenosyl homocysteine in the selected organs.

This study investigated the effect of arginine (Arg) supplementation on nutrient metabolism and splenocyte response in burned mice. Also, the survival of burned mice complicated with Pseudomonas aeruginosa was evaluated. Experiment 1: Sixty male BALB/c mice were assigned to 2 groups. One group was fed with casein as the protein source, the other group was supplemented with 2.4% (w/w) Arg in addition to casein. After 4 weeks, all mice received a 30% body surface area burn injury. Mice in each group were sacrificed for 3 consecutive days after the burn with 10 mice on each respective day. Plasma blood chemistry and amino acid profiles were analyzed. Spleens were removed aseptically from mice 1 day after the burn, interferon (IFN)-γ and interleukin (IL)-4 concentrations secreted by cultured splenocytes were measured. Experiment 2: Thirty mice were divided into 2 groups as described in experiment 1. After 4 weeks, burn injury was induced, and mice were challenged with P. aeruginosa . Survival of the burned mice was observed for 7 days. In experiment 1, no differences in plasma glucose, non-esterified fatty acids, and lactic acid concentrations were observed between the 2 groups on each respective day. Arg group had higher levels of alanine and branched-chain amino acids on day 2, also, plasma Arg and glutamine levels were higher in the Arg group on days 2 and 3 after the burn than in the control group. IFN-γ concentrations in mitogen stimulated splenocyte cultures were higher in the Arg group than the control group. No difference in IL-4 concentrations was observed. In experiment 2, the survival did not differ between the 2 groups. These results suggest that Arg supplementation had no beneficial effect on glucose and lipid metabolism, nor had any effect on survival when burned mice were complicated with P. aeruginosa infection. However, Arg supplementation reduced the depletion of plasma Arg and glutamine levels at the hypercatabolic stage after the burn, and may have potential benefit on enhancing cellular immune response.

This study was designed to examine the effects of feeding diets containing different levels of isoflavone on plasma glucose, insulin concentrations, and lipid profiles as well as tissue antioxidant enzyme activities in diabetic rats. Diabetes was induced in the rats with streptozotocin. Diabetic rats were further assigned to 1 control group and 3 experimental groups (ISO-1, ISO-2, and ISO-8). The control group received a casein-based diet without isoflavone, whereas the ISO-1, ISO-2, and ISO-8 groups received a similar diet but supplemented with 1, 2 and 8 times of isoflavone equivalent of normal human consumption as suggested by the manufacturer. All diets were adjusted to contain identical nutrients and were maintained for 24 days. Fasted and non-fasted blood was drawn after feeding for 21 and 24 days, respectively, and blood chemistry was analyzed. The liver, lung, and kidney were excised after sacrifice, and antioxdiant enzyme activities and lipid peroxidation products were measured. The results demonstrate that there were no differences in plasma glucose or insulin levels among groups, irregardless of whether rats had fasted or not. However, hemoglobin A 1c tended to be lower in the ISO-2 group than in the control and the ISO-1 groups. Plasma total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol were significantly lower in the ISO-8 group than in the other groups. No differences in plasma triglyceride or high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol were observed among groups in the non-fasting state. There were no significant differences in superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase activities, and malondialdehyde concentrations in liver, lung, and kidney homogenates among groups. These results suggest that 3 doses of isoflavone supplementation had no favorable effect on plasma glucose or insulin concentrations, nor had any influence on attenuating oxidative stress in diabetic rats. However, the ISO-2 group tended to have better chronic glycemic control than did the control and the ISO-1 group. In addition, a larger amount of isoflavone supplementation had beneficial effects on reducing plasma total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol levels.