The purpose of this study was to investigate liver and intestinal ABCA1 expression and plasma HDL-C level in response to treadmill-running training in rats. Twenty adult Wistar male rats (17-18 weeks old, 300-322 g) were divided into control (n = 10) and Training (n = 10) groups. Training group trained at 25 m/min (0% grade) for 60 min/day, 5 days/week for 12 weeks. Rats were killed 48 h after the last session of training. The intestinal and liver ABCA1 mRNA expression was found to be significantly higher in trained compared to control group (P < 0.006 and P < 0.024, respectively). Intestine and liver ATP concentrations remained unchanged. Plasma HDL-C, HDL2-C, Apo A-1, pre-beta HDL-C concentration, LCAT activity, TC/HDL-C and LDL-C/HDL-C ratio significantly increased in trained group (P < 0.01, P < 0.006, P < 0.001, P < 0.001 P < 0.067, P < 0.02, and P < 0.03, respectively). However, other lipoprotein concentrations were unchanged. In conclusion, we found that endurance training induced significant elevation in plasma HDL-C and HDL2-C concentrations, accompanied by higher plasma Apo A-1, pre-beta HDL-C concentrations, LCAT activity and ABCA1 mRNA expressions in rat intestine, and liver.

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Acute bacterial infectious diseases are mostly treated empirically at admission before the culture results are available. According to the risk for serious complications in the case of therapeutic failure, it is important to evaluate the therapy results and change to a more appropriate antibiotic regime as soon as possible. In the present study, 40 patients with X-ray-verified community-acquired pneumonia were examined and blood specimens were collected before and within 24 h of treatment. Body temperature, C-reactive protein (CRP) and hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) were investigated. Thirty-two patients received an appropriate initial antibiotic therapy regarding clinical outcome, but in 8 patients the treatment was changed because of therapy failure. Changes of HGF levels after 18–24 h of treatment could predict the therapeutic results accurately in 38 of 40 cases (sensitivity 100%, specificity 94%, positive likelihood ratio 16.0). HGF was significantly better to predict therapy outcome than CRP (p < 0.0001).

No studies have examined the time-course changes of the appetite stimulating hormone, agouti-related peptide (AgRP), induced by exercise training. The purpose of the study was to determine the effects of short (3 weeks), moderate (9 weeks), and long-term (12 weeks) treadmill training on plasma and soleus concentrations of AgRP, as well as ATP and glycogen concentrations in soleus muscle and liver tissues. 54 Wistar male rats were randomly assigned into control (total n=27; 3 week control=10; 9 week control=8; 12 week control=9) and training (total n=27; 3 week trained=10; 9 week trained=8; 12 week trained=9). The training groups ran for 60 min/d, 5 d/wk at 25 m/min and 0% grade for 3, 9, and 12 weeks. After the last exercise session soleus muscle, liver, and plasma were collected and frozen. Results demonstrated that after 3, 9, and 12 weeks of exercise training there was an increase in plasma and soleus AgRP that declined with age. Soleus muscle glycogen was inversely related to AgRP. After 9 weeks of training there was a significant decrease and increase in plasma insulin and cortisol, respectively. Thus, as little as 3 weeks of running enhances AgRP concentration in rat soleus and plasma whereas changes in liver ATP and glycogen and soleus muscle glycogen require 9 weeks for alteration. Plasma and soleus muscle AgRP decline with age, and AgRP concentration in plasma and soleus are related to insulin, soleus ATP, and liver glycogen.