Ren-Jay Shei

Marine lipid fraction PCSO-524™ (lyprinol®/omega XL®) of the New Zealand green lipped mussel attenuates hyperpnea-induced bronchoconstriction in asthma

PURPOSE Evaluate the effect of the marine lipid fraction of the New Zealand green-lipped mussel (Perna canaliculus) PCSO-524 (Lyprinol/Omega XL), rich in omega-3 fatty acids, on airway inflammation and the bronchoconstrictor response to eucapnic voluntary hyperpnea (EVH) in asthmatics. METHODS Twenty asthmatic subjects, with documented HIB, participated in a placebo controlled double-blind randomized crossover trial. Subjects entered the study on their usual diet and were then placed on 3 weeks of PCSO-524 or placebo supplementation, followed by a 2 week washout period, before crossing over to the alternative diet. Pre- and post-eucapnic voluntary hyperpnea (EVH) pulmonary function, fraction of exhaled nitric oxide (FENO), asthma symptom scores, medication use, exhaled breath condensate (EBC) pH, cysteinyl leukotrienes (cyst-LT), 8-isoprostane and urinary 9α, 11β-prostaglandin (PG)F2 and Clara (CC16) protein concentrations were assessed at the beginning of the trial and at the end of each treatment period. RESULTS The PCSO-524 diet significantly reduced (p < 0.05) the maximum fall in post-EVH FEV1 (-8.4 ± 3.2%) compared to usual (-19.3 ± 5.4%) and placebo diet (-22.5 ± 13.7%). Pre- and post- EVH EBC cyst-LT and 8-isoprostane, and urinary 9α, 11β-PGF2 and CC16 concentrations were significantly reduced (p < 0.05) on the PCSO-524 diet compared to the usual and placebo diet. EBC pH and asthma symptom scores were significantly improved (p < 0.05) and rescue medication use significantly reduced (p < 0.05) on the PCSO-524 diet compared to the usual and placebo diet. CONCLUSION PCSO-524 (Lyprinol)/Omega XL) may have beneficial effects in HIB and asthma by serving as a pro-resolving agonist and/or inflammatory antagonist.

Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids in the Optimization of Physical Performance

Increased oxidative stress and inflammatory responses among individuals performing strenuous exercise, elite athletes, or military personnel have been consistently reported. In addition, it is known that exhaustive and/or unaccustomed exercise can lead to muscle fatigue, delayed onset muscle soreness, and a decrement in performance. Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (ω3PUFAs) have been shown to decrease the production of inflammatory eicosanoids, cytokines, and reactive oxygen species, to possess immunomodulatory effects, and to attenuate inflammatory diseases. Although, a number of studies have assessed the efficacy of ω3PUFA supplementation on red blood cell deformability, muscle damage, inflammation, and metabolism during exercise, only a few studies have evaluated the impact of ω3PUFA supplementation on exercise performance. This review demonstrates that, at present, we cannot conclude the hypothesis that ω3PUFA supplementation is effective and ergogenic, and that the data is inconclusive whether ω3PUFA supplementation effectively attenuates the inflammatory and immunomodulatory response to exercise. Future human studies should assess the effectiveness of ω3PUFA supplementation on delayed onset muscle soreness, and subsequent exercise performance, in multisport athletes and military personnel who typically engage in more than one bout of exercise per day using a more robust research design than those that have been used in previous studies.

Repeated high-intensity cycling performance is unaffected by timing of carbohydrate ingestion

Abstract Shei, R-J, Paris, HL, Beck, CP, Chapman, RF, and Mickleborough, TD. Repeated high-intensity cycling performance is unaffected by timing of carbohydrate ingestion. J Strength Cond Res 32(8): 2243–2249, 2018—To determine whether carbohydrate (CHO) feeding taken immediately before, early, or late in a series of high-intensity cycling exercises affected cycling performance. A total of 16 trained, male cyclists (>6 hours postprandial) performed 3-, 4-km cycling time trials (TT1, TT2, and TT3) separated by 15 minutes of active recovery on 4 separate occasions. Carbohydrate feeding (80 g) was given either before TT1 (PRE1), before TT2 (PRE2), before TT3 (PRE3), or not at all (control, CTL). Treatment order was randomized. Sweet placebo was given before the other TTs. Blood glucose (BG) concentration was measured before each trial. Mean power output (Pmean) and time to completion (TTC) were recorded. Pmean was higher in TT1 compared with TT2 (p = 0.001) and TT3 (p = 0.004) in all conditions, but no differences were observed between treatments. Time to completion was lower in TT1 compared with TT2 (p = 0.01), but no other differences in TTC (within or between treatments) were observed. Within CTL and PRE1, BG did not differ between TT1, TT2, and TT3. In PRE2, BG was significantly higher in TT2 compared with TT1 (p = 0.006), in TT3 compared with TT1 (p = 0.001), and in TT3 compared with TT2 (p = 0.01). In PRE3, BG was significantly higher in TT3 compared with TT1 and TT2 (p = 0.001 for both). Given that performance was not influenced by the timing of CHO ingestion, athletes engaging in repeated, high-intensity cycling exercise do not need to ingest CHO before- or between-exercise bouts; furthermore, athletes should refrain from ingesting CHO between bouts if they wish to avoid a rise in BG.

Diet and Exercise-induced Bronchoconstriction

In their recent article in CHEST on “Resource Allocation Issues in Recommendations From Clinical Practice Guideline Panels” (January 2006),1 Guyatt and colleagues deliberated on the productive allocation of health-care resources to alternative management strategies. The authors stated, that “the annual cost of clopidogrel for 100 patients might equal the salary of one nurse in the United States, but the salaries of three nurses in Poland.” For the sake of everyone who would like to cite this example, we feel obliged to amend it. The authors cited inaccurate data provided bona fide by one of us (RJ). The appropriate data from the Polish General Statistical Bureau on the average salaries of nurses and the average cost to patients of clopidogrel indicate that the annual cost of clopidogrel for 100 patients would equal the salaries of at least 10 nurses in Poland. We apologize for these misleading statistics that we provided to authors and readers alike.