Individuals exhibiting "the metabolic syndrome" have multiple coronary artery disease risk factors, including insulin resistance, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, and android obesity. We performed a randomized trial to compare the effects of aerobic and resistance training regimens on coronary risk factors. Twenty-six volunteers who exhibited android obesity and at least one other risk factor for coronary artery disease were randomized to aerobic or resistance training groups. Body mass index, waist-to-hip ratio, glucose, insulin, body composition, 24-hr urinary albumin, fibrinogen, blood pressure, and lipid profile were measured at baseline and after 10 weeks of exercise training. Both groups showed a significant reduction in waist-to-hip ratio and the resistance training group also showed a reduction in total body fat. There was no significant change in mean arterial blood pressure in either group. Fasting plasma glucose, insulin, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, and triglycerides were unchanged in both groups. High-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol increased (13%) with aerobic training only. Plasma fibrinogen was increased (28% and 34%, P < 0.02) in both groups and both groups showed a significant decrease (34% and 28%, P < 0.03) in microalbuminuria after their respective training regimen. In conclusion, resistance training was effective in improving body composition of middle-aged obese sedentary males. Only aerobic training was effective in raising HDL cholesterol. More studies are warranted to assess the effects of exercise on plasma fibrinogen and microalbuminuria.

Stearoyl-CoA desaturase (SCD) is a key regulatory enzyme in the synthesis of unsaturated fatty acids. Although regulation of hepatic SCD by obesity and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) has been well investigated, no studies have addressed whether similar regulation occurs in adipose tissue. We addressed these questions by feeding control (12% corn oil) and high-PUFA (48% corn oil) diets to lean and obese Zucker rats and analyzing SCD mRNA levels in adipose tissue and liver. We report that SCD mRNA content was dramatically elevated in adipose tissue of obese vs. lean rats on both diets and was significantly decreased by PUFA in both genotypes. Interestingly, we demonstrate that SCD expression was directly downregulated in a dose dependent manner by PUFA in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. We conclude that 1) obese Zucker rats overexpress the SCD gene in both liver and adipose tissue and 2) PUFA directly suppress SCD expression in adipocytes. Further studies will elucidate the mechanisms responsible for obesity- and PUFA-mediated regulation of SCD in adipose cells.

No abstract

This study investigated the effects of ballistic resistance training and strength training on muscle fiber composition, peak force (PF), maximal strength, and peak power (PP). Fourteen males (age = 21.3 +/- 2.9, body mass = 77.8 +/- 10.1 kg) with 3 months of resistance training experience completed the study. Subjects were tested pre and post for their squat one-repetition maximum (1RM) and PP in the jump squat (JS). Peak force and rate of force development (RFD) were tested during an isometric midthigh pull. Muscle biopsies were obtained from the vastus lateralis for analysis of muscle fiber type expression. Subjects were matched for strength and then randomly selected into either training (T) or control (C) groups. Group T performed 8 weeks of JS training using a periodized program with loading between 26 and 48% of 1RM, 3 days per week. Group T showed significant improvement in PP from 4088.9 +/- 520.6 to 5737.6 +/- 651.8 W. Rate of force development improved significantly in group T from 12687.5 +/- 4644.0 to 25343.8 +/- 12614.4 N x s(-1). PV improved significantly from 1.59 +/- 0.41 to 2.11 +/- 0.75 m x s(-1). No changes occurred in PF, 1RM, or muscle fiber type expression for group T. No changes occurred in any variables in group C. The results of this study indicate that using ballistic resistance exercise is an effective method for increasing PP and RFD independently of changes in maximum strength (1RM, PF), and those increases are a result of factors other than changes in muscle fiber type expression.