Tomohiro Sugino

Antifatigue effects of coenzyme Q10 during physical fatigue.

OBJECTIVE This study examined the effects of coenzyme Q10 administration on physical fatigue. METHODS In a double-blinded, placebo-controlled, three crossover design, 17 healthy volunteers were randomized to oral coenzyme Q10 (100 or 300 mg/d) or placebo administration for 8 d. As a fatigue-inducing physical task, subjects performed workload trials on a bicycle ergometer at fixed workloads twice for 2 h and then rested for 4 h. During the physical tasks, subjects performed non-workload trials with maximum velocity for 10 s at 30 min (30-min trial) after the start of physical tasks and 30 min before the end of the tasks (210-min trial). RESULTS The change in maximum velocity from the 30- to the 210-min trial in the 300-mg coenzyme Q10-administered group was higher than that in the placebo group. In addition, subjective fatigue sensation measured on a visual analog scale in the 300-mg coenzyme Q10-administered group after the fatigue-inducing physical task and recovery period was alleviated when compared with that in the placebo group. CONCLUSION Oral administration of coenzyme Q10 improved subjective fatigue sensation and physical performance during fatigue-inducing workload trials and might prevent unfavorable conditions as a result of physical fatigue.

Mental and physical fatigue-related biochemical alterations.

OBJECTIVE To confirm fatigue-related biochemical alterations, we measured various parameters just before and after relaxation and fatigue-inducing mental or physical sessions. METHODS Fifty-four healthy volunteers were randomized to perform relaxation and fatigue-inducing mental and physical sessions for 4 h in a double-blind, three-crossover design. Before and after each session, subjects were asked to rate their subjective sensations of fatigue, and blood, saliva, and urine samples were taken. RESULTS After the fatigue-inducing mental and physical sessions, subjective scores of fatigue were increased. After the fatigue-inducing mental session, the vanillylmandelic acid level in urine was higher and plasma valine level was lower than after the relaxation session. In contrast, after the fatigue-inducing physical session, serum citric acid, triacylglycerol, free fatty acid, ketone bodies, total carnitine, acylcarnitine, uric acid, creatine kinase, aspartate aminotransferase, lactate dehydrogenase, cortisol, dehydroepiandrosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate, plasma branched-chain amino acids, transforming growth factor-beta1 and -beta2, white blood cell and neutrophil counts, saliva cortisol and amylase, and urine vanillylmandelic acid levels were higher and serum free carnitine and plasma total amino acids and alanine levels were lower than those after the relaxation session. CONCLUSION Some mental or physical fatigue-related biochemical changes were determined. Various biochemical alterations reflecting homeostatic perturbation and its responses might be shown. We believe that our results contribute to clarifying the mechanism of fatigue, developing evaluation methods, and establishing a basis for treatment.

L-Ornithine supplementation attenuates physical fatigue in healthy volunteers by modulating lipid and amino acid metabolism

We examined the effects of L-ornithine administration on physical fatigue. In a double-blind, placebo-controlled, 2-way crossover study, 17 healthy volunteers were randomized to L-ornithine (2000 mg/d for 7 days and 6000 mg/d for 1 day as L-ornithine hydrochloride) or placebo for 8 days. The fatigue-inducing physical task consisted of workload trials on a cycle ergometer at fixed workloads for 2 hours on 2 occasions. We found that oral L-ornithine administration promoted lipid metabolism and activated the urea cycle from serum triacylglycerol, ketone bodies, free fatty acids, and blood ammonia level changing. L-ornithine significantly attenuated the subjective feeling of fatigue (measured by visual analog scale at postrecovery) compared with postload (P < .01). Moreover, in female subjects, the subjective feeling of fatigue was significantly lower compared with the placebo group (P < .05). In the physical performance test in female subjects, the decrease in mean speed for 10 seconds maximum pedaling from 0.5- to 3.5-hour trials in the group receiving L-ornithine was smaller than that in the group receiving placebo (P < .05). These results suggest that L-ornithine has an antifatigue effect by increasing the efficiency of energy consumption and promoting the excretion of ammonia. L-ornithine is a free amino acid and is not rich in meats or fish, so it is difficult to obtain amounts of L-ornithine from ordinary meals that would be sufficient to promote the antifatigue effect. We recommend L-ornithine intake as a nutritional supplement in cases of physical fatigue.

Daily oral administration of crocetin attenuates physical fatigue in human subjects

This study compared the effects of placebo with a carotenoid compound, crocetin, as well as an antioxidant, ascorbic acid, on physical fatigue in humans. In this double-blind, placebo-controlled, 3-way crossover study, 14 Japanese healthy volunteers (7 men and 7 women) were randomized to oral administration of crocetin (15 mg), ascorbic acid (3,000 mg), or placebo for 8 days. Subjects performed workload tests on a bicycle ergometer at fixed workloads for 120 minutes at 2 times (a total of 240 minutes) as a fatigue-inducing physical task. During the physical task, subjects performed nonworkload tests at maximum velocity (MV) of 10 seconds at 30 minutes (30-minute test) after the start of the physical task and at 30 minutes before the end of the task (210-minute test). The change in MV from the 30- to the 210-minute test was significantly higher in men who received crocetin compared with men who received placebo (P < .05). This effect of crocetin was specific to males. Administration of ascorbic acid did not change in MV from the 30-minute to the 210-minute test on males or females. These results suggest that daily administration of crocetin may attenuate physical fatigue in men.

Effects of Citric Acid and l-Carnitine on Physical Fatigue

We examined the effects of citric acid and l-carnitine administration on physical fatigue. In a double-blind, placebo-controlled, 3-way crossover study, 18 healthy volunteers were randomized to oral citric acid (2,700 mg/day), l-carnitine (1,000 mg/day), or placebo for 8 days. The fatigue-inducing physical task consisted of workload trials on a cycle ergometer at fixed workloads for 2 h on 2 occasions. Before the physical load, salivary chromogranin A, measured as a physiological stress marker, was lower in the group given citric acid than in the group given placebo. Also, after the physical load, the subjective feeling of fatigue assessed with a visual analogue scale was lower in the citric acid group than in the placebo group. In contrast, l-carnitine had no effect on chromogranin A or subjective fatigue. These results suggest that citric acid reduces physiological stress and attenuates physical fatigue, whereas l-carnitine does not.

Effects of oral administration of caffeine and D-ribose on mental fatigue

OBJECTIVE We examined the effects of administering two different candidate antifatigue substances, caffeine and D-ribose, on mental fatigue. METHODS In a double-blinded, placebo-controlled, three-way crossover design, 17 healthy volunteers were randomized to oral caffeine (200 mg/d), D-ribose (2000 mg/d), or placebo for 8 d. As fatigue-inducing mental tasks, subjects performed a 30-min Uchida-Kraepelin psychodiagnostic test and a 30-min advanced trail-making test on four occasions. RESULTS During the tasks, the task performance of the caffeine group was better than that of the placebo group. However, after the fatigue-inducing tasks, although subjective perception of fatigue, motivation, or sleepiness was not significantly different, plasma branched-chain amino acid levels in the caffeine group were lower than those of the placebo group. Administration of D-ribose had no effect. CONCLUSION Because plasma branched-chain amino acid levels are decreased by mental fatigue, these results suggest that administration of caffeine improved task performance through the enhancement of central nervous system activity without increasing the sensation of fatigue. However, further decreases in branched-chain amino acid levels indicate that caffeine might promote deeper fatigue than placebo. Unfortunately, research subsequent to our study design has shown that D-ribose dosing higher than we used is needed to see a clinical effect and therefore no conclusions can be made from this study as to the efficacy of D-ribose.

Effect of exercise on gene expression profile in unfractionated peripheral blood leukocytes.

A 4-h bout of exercise induces immunomodulatory effects. Peripheral blood was withdrawn before, and at 4, 8 and 24h after the start of exercise. RNA from the unfractionated white blood cells was analyzed using Agilent human 44K microarray. The expression profiles were sorted into seven clusters based on their unique time-dependent kinetics. In a separate experiment, cell-specific markers were collected and compared among the members in each cluster. Two clusters were assigned as representing neutrophils, one as NK cells, and another mostly as T cells. Three clusters seemed to be mixtures of several cell types. Extension of this approach to other systems is discussed.

Evaluating the surgeon's stress when using surgical assistant robots

We propose a method for using surgeons biological information to evaluate the surgeons stress in his/her using a surgical assistant system. The surgeons biological information were saliva and heart rate. The stress was measured by analyzing Cortisol, alpha-amylase, and total protein in saliva, and we analyzed the acceleration plethysmogram variability as the indexes of autonomic nervous activity, those were coefficient of variance of the a-a interval and low-frequency band power spectrum(LF), high-frequency band power spectrum (HF), the ratio of LF to HF (LF/HF). To validate the effectiveness of the proposed method, we conducted a laparoscopic cholecystectomy simulation. In conclusion, we confirmed our method had an ability to objectively evaluate the surgeons stress during surgery.

Method for Objectively Evaluating Psychological Stress Resulting when Humans Interact with Robots

Most of us have seen robots in movies, animations and comic book stories, so the word “robot” tends to conjure up images of fictional robots rather than the real thing. The robots in Japanese cartoons such as Astro Boy and Doraemon have human-like social skills, and their physical abilities make it possible for them to live alongside humans without any difficulties. In reality, robots are quite different from these fictional creations. At least, the robots of the early 21st century are still unable to interact smoothly with humans (Norman, 2007). Due to the large disparity between the fictional image of robots and their actual appearance, people sometimes feel stressed when confronted with robots. To facilitate smoother interactions between humans and robots, we must not only to improve the intelligence and physical ability of robots, but also find some way of evaluating the psychological stress felt by humans when they have to interact with robots. To develop robots that can interact smoothly with humans, we need to be able to ascertain the psychological and physiological characteristics of humans by evaluating and analyzing the stress they experience in everyday activities, design robots based on human characteristics, and evaluate and study these robots. In short, stress evaluation is a key requirement for the realization of smooth interactions between robots and humans. In this chapter, we discuss methods for objectively evaluating and investigating the psychological stress that people experience when interacting with robots. For the evaluation of stress, we used acceleration pulse waveforms and the saliva constituents which are biochemical stress markers. These were used to evaluate the psychological stress of a surgeon using a surgical assistant robot. A surgical assistant robot is a robot that interacts with a surgeon and is situated in contact with the patients to provide support for surgical operations. Interaction with humans is of greater importance for surgical assistant robots than for any other type of robot. A

Effects of a Bovine Lactoferrin Formulation from Cow’s Milk on Menstrual Distress in Volunteers: A Randomized, Crossover Study

Dysmenorrhea is a highly prevalent complaint and highly undiagnosed gynecologic condition. Dairy products have a potential in the management of menstrual distress, and bovine lactoferrin can help the subjective dysphoria associated with dysmenorrhea. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the effects of a lactoferrin formulation isolated from cow’s milk on menstrual symptoms in volunteers. A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, crossover study of the iron-lactoferrin complex (FeLf) was performed in thirty-five healthy Japanese women. Participants received the 150 mg FeLf (per day) or placebo from day ten of the luteal phase to day four of the follicular phase. The Moos Menstrual Distress Questionnaire (MDQ) was measured for menstrual distress, and heart rate variability was measured as an index of autonomic nerve balance during menses. A visual analog scale for menstrual pain, and a verbal rating scale for quality of life during the first three days of menstruation were measured. The MDQ score for the automatic nervous system subscale was lower and the parasympathetic nervous system activity was greater in FeLf than in placebo for intention-to-treat or per-protocol populations. The other variables were not different between the groups. No treatment-related side effects were observed during the study. The results indicate that FeLf can provide a beneficial effect on the psychological symptoms in women affected by menstrual distress.