Junzo Tsujita

Role of xanthine oxidase in delayed lipid peroxidation in rat liver induced by acute exhausting exercise

Abstract The aim of this study was to examine whether xanthine oxidase (XOD)-derived hepatic oxidative damage occurs in the main not during but following strenuous exercise. The degree of damage to hepatic tissue catalyzed by XOD was investigated immediately and 3 h after a single bout of exhausting exercise, in allopurinol and saline injected female Wistar rats. Allopurinol treatment resulted in increased hypoxanthine and decreased uric acid contents in the liver compared with the saline treated group, immediately and 3 h after the exercise. Analysis immediately after the exercise showed no changes in hepatic hypoxanthine, uric acid, and thiobarbituric acid-reactive substance (TBARS) contents in the saline treated group, when compared with the resting controls. However, significant increases in uric acid contents in the saline treated livers were observed 3 h after the exercise, relative to the controls. Hepatic TBARS content in the saline treated group were markedly greater than those in both the control and allopurinol treated groups after 3 h of recovery following the exercise. It was concluded that a single bout of exhausting exercise may impose XOD-derived hepatic oxidative damage, primarily during the recovery phase after acute severe exercise.

Differences between the physiologic and psychologic effects of aromatherapy body treatment.

BACKGROUND The wide use of herbal plants and essential oils for the prevention and treatment of diseases dates back to ancient times. However, the scientific basis for the beneficial effects of such plants and oils has not been precisely clarified. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of aromatherapy body treatment on healthy subjects. DESIGN We compared the physiologic and psychologic effects of aromatherapy body treatment (E), massage treatment with carrier oil alone (C), and rest in healthy adults. SUBJECTS Seven (7) female and 6 male volunteers participated as subjects. INTERVENTIONS Each subject underwent 3 trials, in which the Advanced Trail Making Test (ATMT) was given as a stress-inducing task before and after 1 of 3 treatments. OUTCOME MEASURES The State Anxiety Inventory (SAI), the Visual Analog Scale, and the Face Scale were used to assess anxiety, feelings, and mood, respectively. RESULTS After the treatments, the SAI score and the feelings of fatigue were decreased, the positive and comfortable feelings were increased, and mood improved significantly in C and E. Furthermore, significant declines in the feelings of mental and total fatigue were maintained even after the second ATMT in E. On the other hand, the cortisol concentration in the saliva did not show significant changes in any of the trials. Secretory immunoglobulin A levels in the saliva increased significantly after all treatments. CONCLUSIONS We conclude that massage treatments, irrespective of the presence of essential oils, are more advantageous than rest in terms of psychologic or subjective evaluations but not in terms of physiologic or objective evaluations. Furthermore, as compared to massage alone, the aromatherapy body treatment provides a stronger and continuous relief from fatigue, especially fatigue of mental origin.

Effects of decreased plasma glutamine concentrations on peripheral lymphocyte proliferation in rats

Abstract The relationship between exercise-induced lowering of plasma glutamine concentrations and proliferation of peripheral lymphocytes was investigated in male Wistar rats. The T-lymphocyte proliferative responses to the mitogen, concanavalin A, were determined by incorporation of radiolabelled thymidine into the DNA in vitro. The rats ran 2 h · day−1, 6 days · week−1 for 4 weeks. Analysis immediately after the final period of exercise showed T-lymphocyte proliferation to be significantly depressed, together with a marked decrease in plasma glutamine concentrations. There were also significant increases in serum corticosterone concentrations immediately after exercise. However, following 24-h recovery, this exercise-induced immunosuppression was not statistically significant when compared with the age-matched control group. In the second experiment, in order to clarify the importance of glutamine for immunological function in vivo, methionine sulfoximine, an effective inhibitor of glutamine synthetase was injected intraperitoneally (12.5 mg · kg body mass−1). Plasma glutamine concentrations were decreased 4 h after the injection, compared with the placebo control group, and this resulted in a significant decrease in the rate of T-lymphocyte proliferation. This treatment had no effects on serum corticosterone concentrations. These results would suggest that the chronic exercise-induced reduction in proliferation of peripheral T-lymphocytes is a transient reversible phenomenon, which returns to normal levels within 24 h of the final training period. It is also conceivable that this exercise-induced immunosuppression is associated with a decrease in circulating glutamine concentrations.

Thermoregulatory responses of prepubertal boys and young men in changing temperature linearly from 28 to 15°C

AbstractTo examine thermoregulatory responses of prepubertal children to cold stress, 11 boys (aged 8 years) and 11 young men (aged 19–23 years), wearing only trunks, participated in this study. They sat in air at 28°C for 30 min (equilibrium period) and then in conditions where air temperature (Ta) was decreased linearly from 28 to 15°C (at a constant rate of 0.22°C · min−1) for 60 min, at a fixed relative humidity of 65%. In the equilibrium period there was no significant difference between the groups for rectal temperature [Tre, mean 37.30 (SEM 0.10) and mean 37.43 (SEM 0.14)°C in the boys and the men, respectively] or for the respective skin temperatures (except for the forehead), but metabolic heat production (

Zucker obese rats are sensitive to weight-reducing effect and insensitive to orexigenic effect by cold exposure

\dot M

Comparative studies on physical characteristics and resting metabolism between young male highlanders of Papua New Guinea and young male Japanese

) was significantly greater for the boys [mean 57.1 (SEM 1.2) and mean 52.0 (SEM 0.9)W. m−2,P <0.005]. With decliningTa, the skin temperatures decreased in both groups (P <0.001), but the decrease was significantly greater for the boys (P < 0.05), especially on the limbs as represented by the thigh and forearm. No significant correlations were observed between the limb skin temperatures compared to surface area-to-mass ratio or limb skinfold thicknesses in either group. The rate of increase in

Lower trunk muscle activity-induced alignment and cop position during single-leg standing

\dot M