Eliane Florencio Gama

Rhythmic stabilization versus conventional passive stretching to prevent injuries in indoor soccer athletes: A controlled clinical trial

OBJECTIVE Indoor soccer is a sport that exposes the athletes to muscle and joint lesions. The effect of rhythmic stabilization (RS) technique to prevent these kinds of lesions in indoor soccer athletes is largely unknown and its use in athletes is controversial. Nevertheless, empiric evidence suggests that RS might be effective to prevent lesions in indoor soccer athletes. A controlled clinical trial of efficacy was performed to test this hypothesis. METHODS Athletes were randomly divided into two groups: a RS group (7 athletes) and passive stretching (PS) group (7 athletes). At the beginning and at the end of the experiment (after four months) all athletes were subjected to clinical evaluation. Assessments were performed by subjective pain intensity, clinical evaluation and measurements of the range of maximal lower limb flexion movement. RESULTS Athletes of both groups had lower limb injuries during the four months. The athletes submitted to RS technique had fewer injuries than those subjected to the PS technique although the difference was not significant. CONCLUSIONS Although no significant difference was found between RS and PS, a trend suggests RS may be more effective than PS to prevent muscular and ankle joint lesions in indoor soccer athletes, but more research is needed.

Resistance exercise and testosterone treatment alters the proportion of numerical density of capillaries of the left ventricle of aging Wistar rats.

Abstract Changes in the heart compartments that leads to pathological cardiac hypertrophy can be related to testosterone reduction in aging males since heart cells are susceptible to androgens. Resistance exercise delays the changes of aging. Aim: This study aimed to analyze alterations of the left ventricle of aged rats subjected to resistance exercise with administration of testosterone. Methods: Wistar rats were divided into five groups: C Group (control), S Group (sedentary), ST Group (sedentary treated with testosterone), T Group (trained) and TT Group (trained and treated with testosterone), strength training protocol and testosterone treatment were 16 weeks long. All groups were sacrificed at 16 months except for C group, sacrificed at 13 months. Results: There was no change in the weight of the heart or the left ventricle between the groups. ST group showed increase in Nv [cap] density of capillaries and collagen, with no differences in interstitial space. Both trained groups (T and TT) showed increase in the numerical density of capillaries (Nv [cap]) and in the interstitial space, with no changes in collagen. Conclusion: Resistance exercise combined with testosterone triggered a response of compensatory adjustment in the increase of Nv [cap], collagen and interstitial space, increasing perfusion and nutrition to the heart.

Exercise changes the size of cardiac neurons and protects them from age-related neurodegeneration

Aging leads to changes in cardiac structure and function. Evidence suggests that the practice of regular exercise may prevent disturbances in the cardiovascular system during aging. We studied the effects of aging on the morphology and morphometry of cardiac neurons in Wistar rats and investigated whether a lifelong moderate exercise program could exert a protective effect toward some deleterious effects of aging. Aging caused a significant decline (28%) in the number of NADH-diaphorase-stained cardiac neurons. Animals submitted to a daily session of 60 min, 5 day/week, at 1.1 km/h of running in treadmill over the entire life span exhibited a reversion of the observed decline in the number of cardiac neurons. However, most interesting was that the introduction of this lifelong exercise protocol dramatically altered the sizes of cardiac neurons. There was a notable increase in the percentage of small neurons in the rats of the exercise group compared to the sedentary animals. This is the first time that a protective effect of lifelong regular aerobic exercise has been demonstrated on the deleterious effects of aging in cardiac neurons.

MORPHOLOGICAL ADJUSTMENTS OF THE RADIAL NERVE ARE INTENSITY-DEPENDENT

Introduccion: La adaptacion de los nervios perifericos es fundamental para el aumento de fuerza. Sin embargo, la informacion sobre el efecto de la intensidad sobre la morfologia del nervio es escasa. Objetivo: Comparar el efecto de diferentes intensidades de entrenamiento de resistencia en las estructuras del nervio radial. Metodos: Las ratas se dividieron en tres grupos: control (GC) y entrenamiento con 50% (GF1) y con 75% (GF2) del peso corporal del animal. El analisis morfologico del nervio se hizo con microscopia optica y electronica de transmision. Se aplicaron la prueba ANOVA de una via y la prueba post hoc de Tukey y el nivel de significacion se fijo en p ≤ 0,05. Resultados: Los grupos de entrenamiento tuvieron aumento de la fuerza con respecto al grupo control (p ≤ 0,05). Todos los componentes medidos del nervio (area media y diametro de las fibras de mielina y axones, area media y espesor de la vaina de mielina, neurofilamentos y microtubulos) fueron mayores en GF2 en comparacion con los otros grupos (p ≤ 0,05). Conclusion: Los resultados mostraron mayores cambios morfologicos en el nervio radial despues de las cargas mas pesadas. Esto puede ser importante para terapias de rehabilitacion, entrenamiento y progresion.

Use of Anabolic Steroid Altered the Liver Morphology of Rats

El objetivo fue investigar el efecto de la administracion de propionato de testosterona en el higado de ratas. Las ratas se dividieron en los siguientes grupos: control inicial (CI), control de Edad (CE) y grupo anabolico (GA). El propionato de testosterona se administro tres veces por semana durante 16 semanas. Utilizando tecnicas morfocuantitativas, determinamos las densidades de volumen del parenquima lobular y no lobular, area y numero de nucleos de los hepatocitos. Los datos fueron analizados estadisticamente con la media y desviacion estandar, la prueba de ANOVA de una via y un nivel de significacion p0,05. Nuestros resultados mostraron un aumento en los capilares, espacios perisinusoidales y conductos biliares en el grupo CE en comparacion con CI. El GA mostro una disminucion en las celulas hepaticas, la densidad de volumen no lobular y el area de los nucleos de hepatocitos, como tambien un aumento en los capilares, espacios perisinusoidales, conductos biliares, numero de hepatocitos y nucleos no hepatociticos en comparacion AL CI. Concluimos que una toxicidad directa puede haber ocurrido, con la consiguiente perdida de las celulas.

STRENGTH TRAINING AND ANABOLIC STEROID DO NOT AFFECT MUSCLE CAPILLARIZATION OF MIDDLE-AGED RATS

Introducao: Em geral, se aceita que a rede capilar diminui com o avanco da idade. O efeito combinado de treinamento resistido (TR) e testosterona ainda precisa ser elucidado. Objetivo: Este estudo visou medir o perfil capilar de diferentes musculos esqueleticos em ratos de meia-idade submetidos a TR e administracao de testosterona exogena. Metodos: Ratos Wistar foram divididos em cinco grupos experimentais: controle com ratos de 13 meses de idade (SC), controle com ratos de 16 meses de idade (SE), ratos idosos + anabolizante (SA), ratos idosos + TR (T) e ratos idosos + TR + anabolizante (TA) . Resultados: Para o musculo soleo, o grupo SE apresentou decrescimo do percentual de capilares em comparacao com o grupo SC. Os grupos SA, T e TA tiveram aumento do volume de capilares em comparacao com o SC. Por outro lado, para o musculo extensor longo dos dedos (ELD), os grupos SA, T e TA demonstraram menor volume e densidade numerica de capilares, em comparacao com SC e SE. O musculo ELD dos grupos T e TA apresentou 70% menos capilares do que o soleo. A densidade numerica e volumetrica e a razao de capilares por fibra muscular nao foram estatisticamente alteradas por nenhuma das intervencoes. A area de corte transversal (ACT) do musculo soleo dos grupos SA, T e TA foi estatisticamente diferente do grupo SC. A ACT do soleo foi maior nos grupos TA e T do que nos grupos SC, SE e SA e a ACT do ELD foi maior no grupo TA comparada com todos os outros grupos. O grupo TA teve valores maiores do que os grupos SE, SA e T. Conclusao: O tipo de intervencao usada nao afetou qualquer variavel mensurada do perfil capilar. Entretanto, o uso de esteroide anabolizante e/ou TR mostrou tendencia de diminuir a densidade de capilares no musculo ELD.

Ballroom dance and body size perception.

Ballroom dancing consists in the performance of rhythmic movements guided by music, which provide sensorimotor integration and stimulate feelings. The body schema is the unconscious sensorimotor representation that allows the individual to perceive his anatomical body in space. Comprising tactile, proprioceptive, kinesthetic, and environmental information, it is directly related to movement. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of non-competitive practice of ballroom dancing on body perception. The projection point test was applied to 30 volunteers before and after a period of 3 mo.; 15 controls attended lectures on body perception and 15 participants took dance lessons. It was observed that ballroom dancing brought perceptual benefits for those who practiced it.

Benefícios da estimulação perceptual corporal no esquema corporal de idosos

Advances in science have resulted in increased longevity and reflect the growing number of elderly individuals in society today. The increase in chronological age brings progressive loss of functionality, and changes the process of providing information on body awareness, resulting in the misinterpretation of body parameters. Studies have shown that movement and physical activity are able to positively influence body perception. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of perceptual body stimulation activities on the body schema of the elderly. The evaluation was performed with the IMP (Image Marking Procedure), capable of measuring the degree of distortion between the actual and perceived image in different parts of the body. Measurements of body size perception were taken before and after perceptual body stimulation programs. The study results showed that the body intervention program can bring benefits to the participants, but it is necessary that stimulation have a more specific focus, according to the perceptive characteristics of each individual.

Effect of exercise training on aging-induced changes in rat papillary muscle

BACKGROUND The effects of aging on papillary muscle have been widely demonstrated, but no data on the effects of exercise on the age-related changes are available. OBJECTIVE To analyze the effects of aging on the morphological and quantitative properties of papillary muscle and investigate whether a long-term moderate exercise program would exert a protective effect against the effects of aging. METHODS We used electron microscopy to study the density of myocytes, capillaries and connective tissue and the cross-sectional area of myocytes of the papillary muscle of the left ventricle of 6- and 13-month-old untrained and exercised Wistar rats. RESULTS As expected, the volume density of myocytes declined significantly (p<0.05) with aging. The length density of myocardial capillaries also declined with aging, but not significantly. The interstitial volume fraction of the papillary muscle tissue increased significantly (P<0.05) with age. The number of myocyte profiles showed a reduction of 20% that was accompanied by myocyte hypertrophy in the aged rats (P<0.05). Animals submitted to a 60-minute daily session,, 5 days/wk at 1.8 km x h(-1) of moderate running on a treadmill for 28 weeks showed a reversion of all the observed aging effects on papillary muscle. CONCLUSION The present study supports the concept that long-term exercise training restrains the aging-related deleterious changes in the papillary muscle.FUNDAMENTO: Os efeitos do envelhecimento no musculo papilar tem sido amplamente demonstrados, mas nao ha dados disponiveis sobre os efeitos do exercicio nas alteracoes relacionadas a idade. OBJETIVO: Analisar os efeitos do envelhecimento nas propriedades morfologicas e quantitativas do musculo papilar e investigar se um programa continuo de exercicios moderados pode exercer um efeito protetor contra as consequencias do envelhecimento. METODOS: Microscopia eletronica foi utilizada para estudar a densidade dos miocitos, capilares e tecido conectivo e area transversal dos miocitos do musculo papilar no ventriculo esquerdo de ratos Wistar de 6 e 13 meses, nao-treinados e submetidos a exercicios. RESULTADOS: Como esperado, a densidade de volume dos miocitos diminui significantemente (p<0,05) com a idade. A densidade de comprimento dos capilares tambem diminui com a idade, mas nao de forma significante. A fracao de volume intersticial do tecido do musculo capilar aumenta significantemente com a idade (P<0,05). O numero de perfis de miocitos mostrou uma reducao de 20% que foi acompanhada de hipertrofia dos miocitos no envelhecimento (P<0,05). Animais submetidos a uma sessao diaria de 60 minutos, 5 dias/semana a 1,8 km.h-1 de corrida moderada em esteira ergometrica durante 28 semanas mostraram uma reversao de todos os efeitos do envelhecimento observados no musculo papilar. CONCLUSAO: O presente estudo apoia o conceito de que treinamento fisico de longo prazo impede as mudancas deleterias relacionadas a idade no musculo capilar.

Total training load may explain similar strength gains and muscle hypertrophy seen in aged rats submitted to resistance training and anabolic steroids

Abstract This study aimed to quantify training parameters and analyze the morphological response of aged muscles submitted to resistance training and anabolic steroids. Aged Wistar rats were divided into groups: C – initial control; CF – final control; CAS – control with anabolic steroid, RT – resistance training, and RTA – resistance training with anabolic steroid. Maximum carried load, absolute and relative loads increased significantly in RT and RTA. RTA demonstrated greater relative load than RT. Average total volume, total climbing volume, relative total volume, relative total climbing volume, and mean climbing volume were similar between groups RT and RTA. For soleus, CAS, RT, and RTA enlarged cross-sectional area of type I fibers and nuclear ratio. As for type II fibers, RTA was higher than C and CF. For plantaris, RT and RTA showed significant increases in myofibers type I compared to C and CF. For type II fibers, RTA showed a significant increase compared to C and CF. Regarding the nuclear ratio, RT and RTA showed a higher ratio than C, CF, and CAS. Our results demonstrated that both RT and RTA were not different among the analyzed morphological parameters. This fact can be explained by the absence of differences found in the training variables analyzed.