Beat-to-beat heart rate variability (HRV), reflecting cardiac autonomic control mechanisms, is known to change with age. However, the degree to which this change is mediated by aging per se or by physiologic changes characteristic of normative aging is still unclear. This study was designed to examine the association of aerobic fitness, body habitus or obesity, and blood pressure with age-related changes in HRV. Resting HRV data was recorded from 373 healthy subjects (124 men, 249 women; age range, 16-69 y) and analyzed by coarse-graining spectral analysis to decompose the total spectral power into its harmonic and fractal components. The low- and high-frequency (LF, 0.0-0.15 Hz; HF, >0.15 Hz) harmonic components were calculated from the former, whereas the latter was used to calculate the integrated power (FR) and the spectral exponent , beta, which were, in turn, used to evaluate the overall complexity of HRV. Factor analysis was performed to test whether potentially age-related changes in the components of HRV might be observed secondarily through other variables affecting HRV. Significant (p <0.05) age-related changes in the harmonic (HF and LF) and fractal (FR and beta) components of HRV were generally consistent with those described in the literature. In addition, factor analysis showed that there was a unique common factor that primarily explained correlations among age, HF, and beta (p <0.05) without the contributions from LF, FR, aerobic fitness, body habitus or obesity, and blood pressure. It was concluded that, in this population-based sample, age-related changes in HF and beta, both of which reflect vagal modulation of heart rate, were primarily mediated by aging per se and not by physiologic changes characteristic of normative aging.

This study comprised 2 main experiments: one was to determine the oxidative DNA damage under hyperbaric hyperoxia (HBO), and the other was to evaluate the effects of pre-exposure to HBO on high-intensity exercise performance. Healthy subjects (n = 8) inspired 100% O2 in an experimental chamber at a pressure of 1.3 atmospheres absolute (ATA) for 50 minutes once per week for 2 weeks. Urinary 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) was measured as a marker of DNA oxidative damage on day 0 and on days 1, 3, and 5 after each HBO exposure. To investigate the effects of pre-exposure to HBO on high-intensity exercise performance, subjects (n = 6) performed maximal isometric knee extensor exercise (30 repetitions x 2 sets) with and without HBO pre-exposure (100% O2 at 1.3 ATA for 50 minutes). Urinary 8-OHdG did not show any significant change after HBO exposure. Isometric knee extensor torque was significantly lower during the first half of the first set of exercises after HBO pre-exposure compared with the normobaric normoxia (NBO) trial. The decreased torque was associated with the lower integrated electromyography with respect to time. Changes in the degree of ischemia-reperfusion in the vastus lateralis muscle during exercise were larger in the HBO pre-exposure trial than in the NBO trial. Muscle fatigue index, serum lactate concentration, heart rate, and systolic blood pressure showed no differences between the 2 trials. These results indicated that HBO exposure was harmless to DNA, and HBO pre-exposure did not enhance high-intensity exercise performance. As a practical application, athletes who require maximal muscle strength should not inspire high-concentration of O2 just before their competitions because it might, as the case may be, impair their performance.

The purpose of the present study was to relate 3D acceleration patterns of the lower and upper trunk during running to running gait cycle, assess the validity of stride duration estimated from acceleration patterns, investigate speed-dependent changes in acceleration, and examine the test-retest reliability of these parameters. Thirteen healthy young men performed two running trials each on a treadmill and on land at three speeds (slow, preferred, and fast). The 3D accelerations were measured at the L3 spinous process (lower trunk) and the ensiform process (upper trunk) and synchronised with digital video data. The amplitude and root mean square of acceleration and stride duration were calculated and then analysed by three-way analysis of variance to test effects of running conditions, device location, and running speed. Bland-Altman analysis was used to evaluate the test-retest reliability. Marked changes in acceleration were observed in relation to foot strike during running. Stride durations calculated from the vertical accelerations were nearly equal to those estimated from video data. There were significant speed effects on all parameters, and the low test-retest reliability was confirmed in the anterior-posterior acceleration during treadmill running and the anterior-posterior acceleration at slow speed during treadmill and overground running.

We investigated the effects of supplementation with cystine, a dipeptide of cysteine, and theanine (CT), a precursor of glutamate, on immune variables during high-intensity resistance exercise. Cysteine and glutamate are involved in the formation of glutathione, which modulates the activity of natural killer (NK) cells. In this double-blinded clinical trial, 15 well-trained men (aged 22.8 +/- 4.0 years) were divided into 2 groups: placebo (n = 7) and CT (n = 8). The placebo group was administered a powder containing cellulose (950 mg) and glutamate (30 mg), whereas the CT group was administered a powder containing cystine (700 mg) and theanine (280 mg), once daily for 2 weeks. The subjects trained according to their normal schedule (3 times per week) in the first week and trained at double the frequency (6 times per week) in the second week. Concentrations of immunoglobulin (Ig)M, interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8, and salivary IgA and the leukocyte count did not change significantly in either group. There was a significant decrease (p < or = 0.05) in the NK cell activity (NKCA) in the placebo group after the second week compared with that in the CT group (placebo: 69.2 +/- 16.1% vs. CT: 101.7 +/- 38.7%). Phytohemagglutinin-induced lymphocyte blastoid transformation did not change significantly in either group. These results suggest that NKCA is not affected in a normal training schedule with or without CT supplementation. However, high-intensity and high-frequency resistance exercises cause attenuation of NKCA, which CT supplementation appears to restore. Therefore, in practical application, CT supplementation would be useful for athletes to restore the attenuation of NKCA during high-intensity and high-frequency training.