Thomas H. Meade

Electrocardiograms of collegiate football athletes.

The prevalence of electrocardiogram (ECG) abnormalities in American collegiate football athletes is virtually unknown.

Exercise attenuates the increase in plasma monounsaturated fatty acids and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol but not high-density lipoprotein 2b cholesterol caused by high-oleic ground beef in women

We hypothesized that dietary monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) and exercise increase high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) by independent mechanisms, so there would be additive effects between a single, intensive session of exercise and high-MUFA ground beef on HDL-C and blood risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Seventeen postmenopausal women completed a 2-way crossover design in which they consumed five 114-g ground beef patties per week for two 6-week periods separated by a 4-week washout (habitual diet) period. The ground beef patties contained 21% total fat with either 9.97 (low-MUFA) or 12.72 (high-MUFA) g total MUFA. Blood was taken at entry, at the end of each 6-week diet period, after the 4-week washout period, and 24 hours after aerobic exercise sessions (75% VO₂peak, 2.07 MJ). After the ground beef intervention, the high-MUFA ground beef increased plasma palmitoleic acid and oleic acid, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) particle density, HDL-C, and HDL2b-C (all P < .05), whereas the low-MUFA ground beef increased LDL density. After the washout (habitual diet) period, the single exercise session increased serum LDL cholesterol, HDL-C, and HDL2a and decreased TAG and oleic acid. After the low-MUFA ground beef diet, exercise increased LDL size and HDL density and decreased LDL density and very low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, but had no effect on HDL-C fractions. After the high-MUFA ground beef intervention, exercise decreased palmitioleic acid, oleic acid, HDL-C, and HDL2a-C, but not HDL2b-C. Contrary to our hypothesis, the effects of exercise and a high-MUFA diet were not additive; instead, exercise attenuated the effects of the high-MUFA ground beef on HDL-C and plasma MUFAs. The differential effects of high-MUFA ground beef and exercise on HDL2a-C and HDL2b-C indicate that diet and exercise affect HDL-C by different mechanisms.

Ground Beef High in Total Fat and Saturated Fatty Acids Decreases X Receptor Signaling Targets in Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells of Men and Women

We hypothesized that consumption of saturated fatty acids in the form of high-fat ground beef for 5 weeks would depress liver X receptor signaling targets in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and that changes in gene expression would be associated with the corresponding changes in lipoprotein cholesterol (C) concentrations. Older men (n = 5, age 68.0 ± 4.6 years) and postmenopausal women (n = 7, age 60.9 ± 3.1 years) were assigned randomly to consume ground-beef containing 18% total fat (18F) or 25% total fat (25F), five patties per week for 5 weeks with an intervening 4-week washout period. The 25F and 18F ground-beef increased (p < 0.05) the intake of saturated fat, monounsaturated fat, palmitic acid, and stearic acid, but the 25F ground-beef increased only the intake of oleic acid (p < 0.05). The ground-beefs 18F and 25F increased the plasma concentration of palmitic acid (p < 0.05) and decreased the plasma concentrations of arachidonic, eicosapentaenoic, and docosahexaenic acids (p < 0.05). The interventions of 18F and 25F ground-beef decreased very low-density lipoprotein C concentrations and increased particle diameters and low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-I-C and LDL-II-C concentrations (p < 0.05). The ground-beef 25F decreased PBMC mRNA levels for the adenosine triphosphate (ATP) binding cassette A, ATP binding cassette G1, sterol regulatory element binding protein-1, and LDL receptor (LDLR) (p < 0.05). The ground-beef 18F increased mRNA levels for stearoyl-CoA desaturase-1 (p < 0.05). We conclude that the increased LDL particle size and LDL-I-C and LDL-II-C concentrations following the 25F ground-beef intervention may have been caused by decreased hepatic LDLR gene expression.

Exercise raises high-density lipoprotein cholesterol in men after consumption of ground beef with a high but not low monounsaturated fatty acid–saturated fatty acid ratio

Exercise and diets with higher monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA):saturated fatty acid (SFA) ratios are independently linked to improved blood lipid profiles, yet interactive effects in men have not been studied. We hypothesized that dietary ground beef with a high MUFA:SFA ratio (HR = 1.1) would augment the beneficial changes in the lipid profile induced by exercise compared to dietary ground beef with a lower MUFA:SFA ratio (LR = 0.71). Untrained men (n = 13, age = 35 ± 12 y, weight = 91.4 ± 14.2 kg, body mass index = 27.8 ± 3.3kg/m(2)) consumed 5 HR or LR 114 g ground beef patties weekly for 5 weeks (random order) interspersed with a 4-week self-selected (SS) washout diet. One session of exercise (70% VO2max, 1675 kJ) was completed at the end of HR and LR diets, and again after a 5-week SS diet. Diets and physical activity were otherwise not controlled. Fasting blood samples for lipid and lipoprotein analyses were obtained 30 min before and 24 h after exercise. Subjects reported no other changes in diets or physical activity patterns, and body weight and body mass index did not change over the study duration. Diet (3) × Exercise Time (2) repeated measures analysis of variance (α = .05) and follow-up analyses revealed that blood concentrations (mmol/L ± SD) of total cholesterol (5.07 ± 1.16 to 5.73 ± 1.36), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) (1.19 ± 0.20 to 1.36 ± 0.29), HDL2-C (0.24 ± 0.08 to 0.28 ± 0.11), HDL3-C (0.94 ± 0.14 to 1.08 ± 0.20), and non-HDL-C (3.88 ± 1.24 to 4.37 ± 1.38) were significantly elevated with exercise after the HR beef diet, but not after LR and SS diets. Thus, in healthy, untrained men the dietary beef MUFA:SFA ratio affects the blood lipid response to a single session of aerobic exercise.

Does Ecg Predict Cardiac Hypertrophy In American-style Football Athletes?: 197 Board #34 June 1, 11: 00 AM - 12: 30 PM.

The accurate and cost effective identification of left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy is clinically relevant due to its association with cardiac mortality in the general population. PURPOSE: To determine if electrocardiographic (ECG) voltage criteria predicts LV mass measured with cardiac ultrasound in collegiate American-style football (ASF) players. METHODS: Over a 3-year period, standard resting, supine 12-lead ECG and echocardiographic (ECHO) procedures were performed on 76 collegiate ASF players first entering an NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision university as part of their preparticipation physical exams. Player demographics were: age=18±1 yr., height=186±7 cm, weight=100.1±22.0 kg, BMI=28.6±5.0 kg·m2, and BSA=2.24±0.25 m2. Linear regression was used to predict ECHO-derived LV mass and LV mass/BSA index from ECG precordial-lead voltage criteria [sum largest S (V1 or V2) + R (V5 or V6) ≥ 35 mm]. RESULTS: ECG voltage criteria did not significantly (p > 0.05) predict ECHO LV mass (LV mass = -0.12x + 216.94, r = 0.024, R2 = 0.0006), or LV mass/BSA index (LV mass/BSA = 0.3063x + 81.951, r = 0.17, R2 = 0.0244). CONCLUSION: ECG precordial lead voltage was not clinically useful in diagnosing ECHO-derived LV hypertrophy in our sample of first-year collegiate ASF players. We suggest that new and more accurate algorithms for evaluating LV hypertrophy in ASF athletes be explored, possibly using demographic, body habitus, cardiovascular, and other ECG criteria.