[Purpose] The purpose of the present study was to determine whether there was a correlation between basic physical fitness and pulmonary function in Korean school students, to present an alternative method for improving their pulmonary function. [Subjects and Methods] Two hundred forty healthy students aged 6–17 years performed physical fitness tests of hand-grip strength, sit and reach, Sargent jump, single leg stance, and pulmonary function tests of forced vital capacity (FVC) and forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) using a Quark PFT. [Results] Muscle strength and power of boys improved in the late period of elementary school and middle school. Muscle strength of girls improved in the late period of elementary school. Analysis of factors affecting pulmonary function revealed that height, weight, BMI, and body fat significantly correlated with spirometric parameters. Right hand-grip strength, left hand-grip strength, and Sargent jump also significantly correlated with FVC and FEV1. [Conclusion] In order to improve the pulmonary function of children and adolescents, aerobic exercise and an exercise program to increase muscle strength and power is needed, and it should start in the late period of elementary school when muscle strength and power are rapidly increasing.

The effect of exercise on expression of myokine and angiogenesis mRNA in skeletal muscle of high fat diet induced obese rat. JENB., Vol. 19, No. 2, pp.91-98, 2015 [Purpose] The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of regular treadmill exercise on the mRNA expressions of myokines and angiogenesis factors in the skeletal muscle of obese rats.[Methods] Thirty two male Sprague-Dawley rats (4weeks old) were divided into the CO (control) and HF (high fat diet) groups. Obesity was induced in the HF group by consumption of 45% high-fat diet for 15 weeks. These groups were further subdivided into training groups (COT and HFT); the training groups conducted moderate intensity treadmill training for 8 weeks. Soleus muscles were excised and analyzed by real-time quantitative PCR.[Results] mRNA expression of myokines, such as PGC-1α, IL-6, and IL-15, in the COT and HFT groups (which conducted regular exercise), were higher as compared with the CO and HF groups (p < 0.05). Also, the levels in the HF group were significantly lower when compared with CO group (p < 0.05). Expression of angiogenesis mRNA, namely mTOR, VEGF, and FLT1, were significantly lower in the HF group, as compared to the CO group (p < 0.05). In addition, COT group had a higher expression of mTORC1, mTORC2, VEGF and FLT mRNA, than the CO group (p < 0.05); the HFT group also had higher expressions of mTOR, VEGF and FLT1 mRNA than the HF group (p < 0.05).[Conclusion] These results indicate that mRNA expression of myokines was increased through the activity of muscle contraction, and it also promoted the mRNA expression of angiogenesis due to activation of mTOR. Thus, we conclude that not only under normal health conditions, but in obesity and excess nutritional circumstances also, regular exercise seems to act positively on the glycemic control and insulin sensitivity through the angiogenesis signaling pathway.

Fighter pilots perform a variety of physical activities to improve and maintain their fitness, but there is a lack of research on brain function factors for high acceleration exposure. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the differences of physical fitness between success and failure group, and to examine the changes in blood brain function factors after exposure to high acceleration condition. Air force cadets were participated and divided into the success (n=38), failure within 10 s (failure group A, n=19), failure within 20 s (failure group B, n=10) and failure within 30 s (failure group C, n=12) groups after conducting G-tolerance test. In terms of muscle mass, the failure group C showed significantly higher values than the failure group A (p<0.05). In the sit-up test, the success group showed significantly higher values than the failure group D (p<0.05). BDNF and CTSB levels were significantly increased in the success group and the failure group D after acceleration exposure (p<0.05). As can be seen from the results of this study, high acceleration exposure caused a significant increase in the CTSB level in the success group that is considered to be the result of high strength isometric movement of the human body to withstand high pressure. Therefore, the results of this study suggested that to improve muscle strength is essential to withstand high acceleration conditions.

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