Aim:This study aims to analyze body composition in adult male football players and its changes during adulthood.Methods:Adult male football players (n=942, mean age 24.11 ±4.69y), all members of national competitive clubs from Macedonia were included in the study. The absolute and the relative body components were calculated: lean body mass (LBMkg), muscle mass (MMkg; MM%), bone mass (BMkg; BM%) and fat components (FMkg; FM%), using the anthropometric protocol by Matiegka.Results:Mean values of anthropometric measures for all included participants were as follows: height=178.39±6.11cm; weight=77.02±7.57; LBM=65.65±6.38; MM%=53.23±2.78; BM%=17.05±1.27; FM%=14.58±1.48. Descriptive statistics for these parameters was made for age specific groups.Conclusions:The results obtained could be used as reference values for adult football players in Republic of Macedonia. In the examined age span (18-35 years) a slight increase of absolute values of all three body components has been registered with advancing age. The most significant increase in the absolute values was registered for the muscle component, followed by the fat and bone components, respectively. Regarding the relative values (%), the muscle and the fat components showed an equally slight positive correlation with the age increase of 1 year, whilst the bone component decreased with advancing age.

Patients undergoing hemodialysis are at risk for atherosclerosis and its complications. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of erythropoietin therapy and hemodialysis duration on some of the atherosclerotis risk factors. The patients were divided into four groups: I: patients undergoing hemodialysis for less than 10 years (n=22); II: patients undergoing hemodialysis for more than 10 years (n=17); III: patients on no erythropoietin (n=21); IV: patients on erythropoeitin therapy (n=18). A control group of 20 subjects was also examined. Triglycerides, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein and high-density lipoprotein, lipoprotein(a), apolipoprotein-A1, apolipoprotein-B and lipid peroxidation were examined. There was a significant increase in triglycerides, to 2.59+/-1.2 mmol/l (p<0.001) and in lipid peroxidation in hemodialysis patients, to 5.02+/-0.9 micromol/l vs. controls (p<0.001). Significantly elevated triglycerides and lipid peroxidation levels were found in the patients with longer hemodialysis duration. Triglycerides were elevated in group II vs. group I, to 2.90+/-1.0 mmol/l. (p<0.05). Lipid peroxidation in group II, 5.40+/-1.0 micromol/l, showed significant difference compared to group I (p<0.05). Erythropoietin treatment did not affect any of the examined parameters. These results indicate increased risk for atherosclerosis related to hemodialysis duration. Besides the renal disease itself, hemodialysis may also be one of the risk factors for atherosclerosis.

The objective of this study was to analyze the hematologic parameters and their correlation with body composition components in healthy boys at pubertal age. One hundred and ninety physically active male subjects, aged 10 to 17 years, mean age 13.87 ±4.5 years, were included in the study. Capillary blood was drawn from all subjects and the following hematologic parameters were measured: RBC, Hct, Hb, MCV, MCH, MCHC. The following body components derived from Matiegka anthropometric method were assessed: muscle mass (MM), bone mass (BM), and body fat mass (BF). The mean values (±SD) of hematologic parameters were: RBC= 4.87±0.41 x 10 12 /L, Hb=14.24±1.24 g/dL, Hct=43.83±3.8%. Anthropometric characteristics were as follows: body mass index (BMI) = 20.26± 3.27 kg/m 2 , relative muscle mass (MM%) = 53.18± 3.19%, bone mass (BM%) = 18.83± 2.4% and body fat percentage (BF%) = 15.19± 2.64%. Correlation analysis between hematologic parameters and body composition showed a moderate to strong correlation between RBC, Hb and Hct and all body components. The strongest correlations were found between Hb and Hct, and muscle mass (r= 0.60; r= 0.61) and lean body mass (r= 0.59). The body fat mass showed also a positive association with RBC (r=0.47); Hb (r=0.47) and Hct (r=0.48). Our findings showed that the relationship between anthropometric measures and RBC variables in healthy physically active boys were positively correlated, but the level of association was higher with skeletal muscle mass.