Paolo Parisi

Cellular and biochemical parameters of exercise-induced oxidative stress: relationship with training levels.

To better clarify the relationship between physical activity and oxidative stress, we determined the effects of a maximal test in 18 young subjects with different training levels (six professional Athletes and 12 non-agonists (NA)). Redox homeostasis (total antioxidant activity (TAS), vitamin C and glutathione (GSH)), oxidative damage (diene conjugation and hemolysis), lymphocyte cell death and repair systems (apoptosis, micronuclei and Hsp70 expression) were evaluated. We found that agonistic training led to a chronic oxidative insult (high baseline values of oxidized glutathione (GSSG), micronuclei and hemolysis). On the contrary, NA with the lowest level of training frequency showed a well balanced profile at rest, but they were more susceptible to exercise-induced variations (GSSG/GSH and diene increased values), respect to the NA with an higher level of training. As almost all the parameters employed in this study showed inter-individual variations, the GSSG/GSH ratio remains the most sensitive and reliable marker of oxidative stress, accordingly with other data just reported in the literature.

Oxidative stress responses to a graded maximal exercise test in older adults following explosive-type resistance training.

We recently demonstrated that low frequency, moderate intensity, explosive-type resistance training (EMRT) is highly beneficial in elderly subjects towards muscle strength and power, with a systemic adaptive response of anti-oxidant and stress-induced markers. In the present study, we aimed to evaluate the impact of EMRT on oxidative stress biomarkers induced in old people (70–75 years) by a single bout of acute, intense exercise. Sixteen subjects randomly assigned to either a control, not exercising group (n=8) or a trained group performing EMRT protocol for 12-weeks (n=8), were submitted to a graded maximal exercise stress test (GXT) at baseline and after the 12-weeks of EMRT protocol, with blood samples collected before, immediately after, 1 and 24 h post-GXT test. Blood glutathione (GSH, GSSG, GSH/GSSG), plasma malonaldehyde (MDA), protein carbonyls and creatine kinase (CK) levels, as well as PBMCs cellular damage (Comet assay, apoptosis) and stress–protein response (Hsp70 and Hsp27 expression) were evaluated. The use of multiple biomarkers allowed us to confirm that EMRT per se neither affected redox homeostasis nor induced any cellular and oxidative damage. Following the GXT, the EMRT group displayed a higher GSH/GSSG ratio and a less pronounced increase in MDA, protein carbonyls and CK levels compared to control group. Moreover, we found that Hsp70 and Hsp27 proteins were induced after GXT only in EMRT group, while any significant modification within 24 h was detected in untrained group. Apoptosis rates and DNA damage did not show any significant variation in relation to EMRT and/or GXT. In conclusion, the adherence to an EMRT protocol is able to induce a cellular adaptation allowing healthy elderly trained subjects to cope with the oxidative stress induced by an acute exercise more effectively than the aged-matched sedentary subjects.

Physical Exercise and Redox Balance in Type 2 Diabetics: Effects of Moderate Training on Biomarkers of Oxidative Stress and DNA Damage Evaluated through Comet Assay

Objective. Hyperglycemia leads to increased production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in type 2 diabetes, which reduces cellular antioxidant defenses and induces DNA lesions. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects on redox homeostasis and DNA oxidative damage of exercise training in patients with type 2 diabetes compared with nondiabetic individuals. Methods and Results. 12 sedentary type 2 diabetic males (62.1 ± 4.3 yrs) and 12 sedentary healthy males (61.7 ± 3.9 yrs) were exposed to 4-month moderate training, 3 times per week, to evaluate the effect on plasma biomarkers of oxidative stress malondialdehyde and antioxidant status (GSSG, GSH/GSSG, and ascorbic acid) as well as basal and H2O2-induced DNA damage trough alkaline comet assay in peripheral blood lymphocytes. After training, glutathione and ascorbic acid levels increased in both groups, but only in diabetics the malondialdehyde as well as the DNA damage decreased. Conclusion. Our study demonstrates for the first time that moderate exercise training is not only effective in improving the redox homeostasis, through an increase of the endogenous antioxidant defences in healthy as well as in diabetic patients, but also, specifically in diabetic patients, effective in lowering the susceptibility to oxidative DNA damage and the lipid peroxidation levels.

Twin resemblances in creativity and in esthetic and emotional expression.

Three sources of observation relevant to the measurement of individual differences in emotional and esthetic expressiveness were employed to study their heritability by application to a sample of some 60 pairs of young adult like-sexed twins, approximately evenly divided between male and female and MZ and DZ pairs. The sources of observation were objective test performances, trait ascription using a standard list of adjectives, and videotaped enactments of mood and esthetic performances. Perceptual and esthetic abilities do appear to have substantial heritability, although esthetic preferences do not. Heritability is also indicated for such adjectives as artistic, inventive, original, and independent. Ratings of the videotape performances yielded somewhat ambiguous results, due to the presence of a marked halo effect; the most likely interpretation congruent with earlier results is that greater MZ twin resemblances in social extroversion generated greater resemblances in the videotape situation on such other trait-rating variables as creativity, naturalness, and dominance.

Effects of Salmeterol on Skeletal Muscle Cells: Metabolic and Proapoptotic Features

PURPOSE Salmeterol is a β2-adrenergic receptor agonist widely used for the treatment of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. It has been shown that salmeterol is also used at supratherapeutic doses as performance-enhancing substance in sport practice. Although the abuse of β-agonists might determine some adverse effects, the molecular effects of salmeterol on skeletal muscle cells remain unclear. METHODS We evaluated the effects of salmeterol (0.1-10 μM) on both proliferative and differentiated rat L6C5 and mouse C2C12 skeletal muscle cell lines. The metabolic effects were evaluated by glyceraldehyde phosphate dehydrogenase, lactate dehydrogenase, citrate synthase, 3-OH acyl-CoA dehydrogenase, and alanine transglutaminase activities. Cytotoxic and apoptotic effects were analyzed by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-1)-5-(3-carboxymeth-oxyphenyl)-2H-tetrazolium, trypan blue exclusion assay, terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling assay, Western blot analysis, and immunofluorescence staining. RESULTS We showed that salmeterol reduced the growth rate of proliferating cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner (6-48 h). An increase in oxidative metabolism was found after 6 h in C2C12 and L6C5 myoblasts and in C2C12 myotubes with respect to control cells, while in L6C5 myotubes, anaerobic metabolism prevailed. Exposure of myoblasts and myotubes for 48 and 72 h at high salmeterol concentrations induced apoptosis by the activation of the intrinsic apoptotic pathway, as confirmed by the modulation of the apoptotic proteins Bcl-xL, caspase-9, and poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase and by the cytoplasmic release of Smac/DIABLO. CONCLUSIONS Altogether, our results demonstrate that short-term supratherapeutic salmeterol exposure increased oxidative metabolic pathways on skeletal muscle cells, whereas prolonged treatment inhibits cell growth and exerts either a cytostatic or a proapoptotic effect in a time- and dose-dependent way.

Two Italian Twin Registers for Research in Human Biology and Sport Science

Two Italian twin registers are described, the Register of Italian Twin Athletes (RITA) and the Twin Register of Rome (TERRY), developed in recent years at the newly established University of Sport and Movement Sciences of Rome-Foro Italico (IUSM). Ascertainment procedures, database, applications and current prospects are outlined, along with their research focus, which mainly consists of epidemiological and clinical research on the determinants of sport performance as well as on the role of genetic factors versus lifestyle, especially physical activity, in health and aging.

The Registry of Italian Twin Athletes (RITA): Background, design, and procedures,and twin data analysis on sport participation—An application to twin swimmers

Aiming to contribute to a better understanding of the nature and characteristics of sport participation and of the factors underlying human performance and adaptation to physical exercise, this study involved (a) the establishment of a specialized twin registry, (b) a questionnaire study, and (c) testing sessions of top level athletes. The general design and procedures of the project are described. A Registry of Italian Twin Athletes (RITA) was developed through a collaborative effort involving 25 sports federations of the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI). Out of a total of over 1,500,000 registered athletes, some 5,000 pairs of twins practicing sports such as track and field, swimming, tennis, fencing, and cycling, were tentatively identified. A basic questionnaire was devised to address general aspects as well as specific items related to the respondents respective discipline, and a specific questionnaire was developed for each sport. As a basis for future studies, an application was conducted on the twins registered with the Swimming Federation. The data collected from the completed questionnaires of about 200 twin swimmers indicated a strong zygosity and sex effect on sport selection, with higher prevalence values for identical pairs and for males. The twins appeared to be taller than their counterparts in the general population, as appears to be true for swimmers in general. Both for anthropometry and basic swimming performance analysis, no zygosity effects were found, individual differences being presumably minimized by basic athletic selection factors. For possible genetic effects to be detected, specific and direct testing sessions on high-level performers should be undertaken.

Methodology of Twin Studies: A General Introduction

The birthdate of twin research is usually considered to be the year 1875, when Francis Galton, in his paper, “The History of Twins as a Criterion of the Relative Powers of Nature and Nurture,” first suggested the respective influences of heredity (nature) and environment (nurture) on any given trait or condition in man be assessed through the comparison of twin partners. Systematic scientific investigations using twins were initially confined to psychology, but the interest soon spread and the “twin method” was enthusiastically applied in most areas of human biology. Inevitably, perhaps, there also were indiscriminate applications, ill-designed studies and uncritical conclusions. This gave momentum to criticism of the method, with doubt being cast on some of its basic assumptions. Thus, in the fifties and sixties, the method became much less popular than it used to be. This called for a serious revision of the classic design and of its assumptions, as a result of which possible limitations and pitfalls have been identified, corrections suggested, and new approaches and methodologies developed.

Aldur W. Eriksson 7.1.1927-3.4.2015.

Aldur W. Eriksson, the noted twin scholar and human geneticist, passed away on Friday, April 3, 2015, at the age of 88. He had a full, highly productive and accomplished life. He is survived by his wife Maj-Britt and their son Staffan and his family. His death leaves a void, not only among relatives and friends, but among the many who had known him and in the scientific community, particularly that of twin researchers worldwide.

Psychosocial Factors in Human Growth

In a 13th century chronicle attributed to the Franciscan Salimbene of Parma, the King of Sicily and then Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick II von Hohenstaufen, is reported to have performed an experiment “to find out what kind of speech ... children would have when they grew up, if they spoke to no one beforehand. So, he bade foster mothers and nurses to suckle the children, to bathe and to wash them, but in no way to prattle with them or to speak to them ... But -- the medieval historian concludes -- he labored in vain, because the children all died. For they could not live without the petting and the joyful faces and loving words of their foster mothers.”