BackgroundMetabolic syndrome (MetS) is a clustering of cardiovascular risk factors, which is associated with diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular disease. Lifestyle interventions applied to people with MetS has considerable beneficial effects on disease preventive outcomes. This study aimed to examine the effects of 1-year of yoga exercise on the cardiovascular risk factors including central obesity, hypertension, dyslipidemia and hyperglycemia in middle-aged and older Hong Kong Chinese adults with MetS.MethodsAdults diagnosed with MetS using National Cholesterol Education Program criteria (n = 182; mean ± SD age = 56 ± 9.1) were randomly assigned to a 1-year yoga intervention group or control group. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure, waist circumference, fasting plasma glucose, triglycerides, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol were examined at baseline, midway, and on completion of the study. Physical activity level and caloric intake were assessed and included in the covariate analyses.ResultsA reduction of the number of diagnostic components for MetS was found to be associated with the yoga intervention. Waist circumference was significantly improved after the 1-year yoga intervention. A trend towards a decrease in systolic blood pressure was observed following yoga intervention.ConclusionThese results suggest that yoga exercise improves the cardiovascular risk factors including central obesity and blood pressure in middle-aged and older adults with MetS. These findings support the complementary beneficial role of yoga in managing MetS.

Collectively, our data demonstrated that acylated ghrelin administration suppresses the doxorubicin-induced activation of apoptosis and enhances the cellular signalling of autophagy. The treatment of unacylated ghrelin has similar effects as acylated ghrelin on apoptotic and autophagic signalling, suggesting that the effects of ghrelin are probably mediated through a signalling pathway that is independent of GHSR-1a. These findings were consistent with the hypothesis that acylated ghrelin inhibits doxorubicin-induced upregulation of apoptosis in skeletal muscle while treatment of unacylated ghrelin can achieve similar effects as the treatment of acylated ghrelin. The inhibition of apoptosis and enhancement of autophagy induced by acylated and unacylated ghrelin might exert myoprotective effects on doxorubicin-induced toxicity in skeletal muscle.

IMPORTANCE Previous studies that have shown tai chi to improve sleep were mainly based on subjective assessments, which might have produced results confounded by self-reporting bias. OBJECTIVE To compare the effectiveness of tai chi for improving sleep in older adults with insomnia with conventional exercise and a passive control group using actigraphy-based objective measurements. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS This randomized, 3-arm, parallel group, assessor-masked clinical trial was conducted at a single research unit in Hong Kong between August 2014 and August 2018. Eligible participants, aged 60 years or older and with chronic insomnia, were randomly allocated into tai chi training, exercise, and control groups. INTERVENTIONS 12-week tai chi training, 12-week conventional exercise, and no intervention control. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Primary outcomes were measures taken from actigraphy sleep assessment. Secondary outcomes included remission of insomnia, insomnia treatment response, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index score, Insomnia Severity Index score, and self-reported sleep using a 7-day sleep diary. Assessments were performed at baseline, end of the intervention (postintervention), and 24 months after the intervention (follow-up). Data analysis was performed from September 2018 to August 2020. RESULTS A total of 320 participants (mean [SD] age, 67.3 [6.8] years; mean [SD] insomnia duration, 124.4 [134.5] months; 256 [80.0%] women) were randomly allocated into control (110 participants), exercise (105 participants), and tai chi (105 participants) groups and included in the data analysis. Compared with the control group, the exercise and tai chi groups showed improved sleep efficiency

Background The relationship between the frequency of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and the resultant adaptations is largely unclear. Purpose This study compared the effects of different frequencies of HIIT with those of moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT) on body composition in overweight or obese adults. Methods Fifty-six overweight or obese (body mass index = 26.4 ± 2.9) men between 18 and 30 yr old (age = 22.8 ± 3.1 yr) were randomly assigned to the following groups: no-intervention control (CON; n = 14), MICT performed thrice weekly (MICT×3/wk; n = 9), HIIT performed thrice weekly (HIIT×3/wk; n = 14), HIIT performed twice weekly (HIIT×2/wk; n = 10), and HIIT performed once weekly (HIIT×1/wk; n = 9). Each HIIT session consisted of 12 × 1-min bouts at 90% heart rate reserve, interspersed with 11 × 1-min bouts at 70% heart rate reserve. Aerobic capacity, body composition, resting heart rate, vascular function, insulin resistance, and biomarkers of metabolic syndrome risk factor were examined at baseline, after 4 wk, and after 8 wk of intervention. Results Aerobic capacity and percent fat-free mass significantly increased in all exercise groups compared with those in the CON group (CON vs all exercise groups, P < 0.05), whereas body fat mass and systolic blood pressure significantly decreased after 8 wk of intervention in all exercise groups compared with those in the CON group (CON vs all exercise groups, P < 0.05). Body fat mass significantly decreased after 4 wk in all HIIT groups compared with those in the CON group (CON vs all HIIT groups, P < 0.05) but not in the MICT×3/wk group. Conclusion These novel results demonstrated that performing HIIT once weekly, even with a lower weekly volume of exercise, improved cardiorespiratory fitness, body composition, and blood pressure in overweight/obese adults. Low-frequency HIIT might be a feasible and effective strategy for the prescription of an initial exercise program for inactive, overweight, or obese young men.

Key pointsr Cardiac function is impaired and Foxo1/Bim-related apoptotic signalling is up-regulated in senescent heart r Activation of SIRT1 deacetylase activity by resveratrol attenuates the Foxo1/Bim signalling axis in senescent heart Abstract Elevations of cardiomyocyte apoptosis and fibrotic deposition are major characteristics of the ageing heart. Resveratrol, a polyphenol in grapes and red wine, is known to improve insulin resistance and increase mitochondrial biogenesis through the SIRT1-PGC-1α signalling axis. Recent studies attempted to relate SIRT1 activation by resveratrol to the regulation of apoptosis in various disease models of cardiac muscle. In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that long-term (8-month) treatment of resveratrol would activate SIRT1 and improve the cardiac function of senescent mice through suppression of Foxo1-associated pro-apoptotic signalling. Our echocardiographic measurements indicated that the cardiac systolic function measured as fractional shortening and ejection fraction was significantly reduced in aged mice when compared with the young mice. These reductions, however, were not observed in resveratrol-treated hearts. Ageing significantly reduced the deacetylase activity, but not the protein abundance of SIRT1 in the heart. This reduction was accompanied by increased acetylation of the Foxo1 transcription factor and transactivation of its target, pro-apoptotic Bim. Subsequent analyses indicated that pro-apoptotic signalling measured as p53, Bax and apoptotic DNA fragmentation was up-regulated in the heart of aged mice. In contrast, resveratrol restored SIRT1 activity and suppressed elevations of Foxo1 acetylation, Bim and pro-apoptotic signalling in the aged heart. In parallel, resveratrol also attenuated the ageing-induced elevations of fibrotic collagen deposition and markers of oxidative damage including 4HNE and nitrotyrosine. In conclusion, these novel data demonstrate that resveratrol mitigates pro-apoptotic signalling in senescent heart through a deacetylation mechanism of SIRT1 that represses the Foxo1-Bim-associated pro-apoptotic signalling axis.