Water-based exercise improves health-related aspects of fitness in older women

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine the physiological responses of elderly women to a well-rounded exercise program performed in water (WEX). METHODS: The participants (60-75 yr of age) were randomly divided into a training (TR) group (N = 15) and a control group (N = 15). The TR group participated in a 12-wk supervised WEX program, 70 min x day(-1), 3 d x wk(-1). The WEX consisted of 20 min of warm-up and stretching exercise, 10 min of resistance exercise, 30 min of endurance-type exercise (walking and dancing), and 10 min of cool-down exercise. RESULTS: The WEX led to an increase (P < 0.05) in peak VO2 (12%) and VO2 at lactate threshold (20%). Muscular strength evaluated by a hydraulic resistance machine increased significantly at resistance dial setting 8 (slow) for knee extension (8%), knee flexion (13%), chest press (7%) and pull (11%), shoulder press (4%) and pull (6%), and back extension (6%). Vertical jump (9%), side-stepping agility (22%), trunk extension (11%), and FEV1.0 (7%) also increased significantly. There was a significant decrease in skin-fold thickness (-8%), low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (-17%), and total cholesterol (-11%). There were no significant changes in these variables in the control group. CONCLUSION: These results indicate that WEX elicits significant improvements in cardiorespiratory fitness, muscular strength, body fat, and total cholesterol in older adult women. Water-based exercise appears to be a very safe and beneficial mode of exercise that can be performed as part of a well-rounded exercise program.     

Diagnostic significance of tau protein in cerebrospinal fluid from patients with corticobasal degeneration or progressive supranuclear palsy

Distinguishing corticobasal degeneration (CBD) from progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) is clinically and pathologically difficult, and a useful biological marker to discriminative these two diseases has been a subject of clinical interest. In the present study, we assessed tau protein levels in cerebrospinal fluids by sandwich ELISA to distinguish CBD from PSP. The subjects consisted of 27 cases of CBD, 30 cases of PSP, and 36 healthy controls (CTL). The tau values in CBD were significantly higher than those in PSP (P<0.001) and those in CTL (P<0.001). The assay of CSF tau provided diagnostic sensitivity of 81.5% and specificity of 80.0% between CBD and PSP according to receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. When values were compared separately with respect to stage of the disease, differences in the values for moderate CBD vs. moderate PSP had the greatest significance (P<0.001 sensitivity 92.3%, specificity 100.0%), followed by cases of mild CBD and PSP (P<0.005, sensitivity 100.0%, specificity 87.5%). The values in severe CBD and PSP were not significantly different (P=0.07, sensitivity 100%, specificity 75.0%). Using data obtained from a larger number of disease cases, we confirmed our previous findings that tau protein levels in cerebrospinal fluids in patients with CBD are significantly higher than those in patients with PSP. Because tau protein levels in cerebrospinal fluids are significantly higher in early CBD cases than in early PSP cases, measurement of tau protein levels in cerberospinal fluids may be useful for the differential diagnosis of early CBD from early PSP.     

SMN2 and NAIP gene dosages in Vietnamese patients with spinal muscular atrophy

Background: The SMN1 gene is now recognized as a spinal muscular atrophy (SMA)-causing gene, while SMN2 and NAIP have been characterized as a modifying factor of the clinical severity of SMA. Gene dosage of SMN2 is associated with clinical severity of SMA. But the relationship between gene dosage of NAIP and clinical severity of SMA remains to be clarified, although complete deletion of NAIP is frequent in type I patients.
Methods: To evaluate the contribution of the SMN2 and NAIP gene dosages to SMA, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction was used to measure copy numbers of SMN2 and NAIP in 34 Vietnamese SMA patients lacking SMN1 (13 type I, 11 type II and 10 type III patients).
Results: The SMN2 copy number in type I patients was significantly lower than that in type II–III patients, which was compatible with the previous reports. In contrast, 25 out of 34 patients had only zero or one copy of NAIP , while 50 out of 52 controls had two or more copies. For NAIP (+) genotype, six out of 13 type I patients, eight out of 11 type II patients and six out of 10 type III patients carried one NAIP copy.
Conclusions: The SMN2 copy number was related to the clinical severity of SMA among Vietnamese patients. The presence of one NAIP copy, that is, heterozygous NAIP deletion, was common in Vietnamese SMA, regardless of clinical phenotype.     

Effects of combined sensory and muscular training on balance in Japanese older adults

BACKGROUND: Adequate levels of physical balance and muscular strength are necessary to live independently in old age. The effects of an exercise training program targeting the sensory and muscle systems on balance and strength in a group of older adults were determined in this study. METHODS: Static balance (one-leg balance with eyes closed), dynamic balance (limits of stability [endpoint excursion [EPE], maximum excursion [MXE]]), and strength (chair stand) were assessed before and after the intervention. Volunteers were divided randomly into a training group (TR, n = 15, 76 +/- 4 years) and a control group (CN, n = 14, 76 +/- 7 years). TR performed 12-week (2 days/week, 60 min/day) supervised training while standing on the floor (first 4 weeks) and progressing to standing on foam pads of different compliances. Exercises included movements that challenged the sensory and muscle systems. RESULTS: After 12 weeks of training, the TR demonstrated significant improvements in static balance (82%); EPE backward (72%), right (32%), and left (33%); MXE backward (74%), right (31%), and left (18%); and lower body muscle strength (20%) with no significant changes in CN. CONCLUSION: These results indicate that this training program is very effective in improving balance and lower body strength in older adults.     

Serotonin 2C receptor gene Cys23Ser polymorphism: a candidate genetic risk factor of migraine with aura in Japanese population

OBJECTIVES: The goal of this study is to clarify the association between migraine and Serotonin 2C receptor Cys23Ser polymorphism in Japanese population. MATERIALS AND METHOD: This study included 37 individuals with migraine with aura (MWA), 80 with migraine without aura, 43 with tension type headache (TH) and 360 with controls. The genotypes of Cys23Ser polymorphism were confirmed by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism techniques. RESULTS: The Ser allele frequency in control subjects is much less than that in Caucasian population. The Ser allele frequency in patients with MWA was higher than that in control subjects. CONCLUSION: The present study provides that 5HTR2c Cys23Ser polymorphism may be associated with MWA in Japanese population.     

The critical role of type-1 innate and acquired immunity in tumor immunotherapy

The discovery of a large array of tumor antigens has demonstrated that host lymphocytes can indeed recognize and destroy tumor cells as originally proposed in the cancer immunosurveillance hypothesis. Recent reports that led to the cancer immunoediting concept also strongly support the immunosurveillance hypothesis, and they further indicate that the host immune system plays a critical role not only in promoting host protection against cancer but also in selecting tumors that can better escape from immune attack. Thus, it is now clear that T cells have the ability to recognize and destroy spontaneously arising tumors. However, the generation of antitumor immunity is often difficult in the tumor-bearing host because of various negative regulatory mechanisms. Here, we review our recent work on tumor immunotherapy, which utilizes the activation of type-1 innate and/or acquired immunity as a potent strategy to overcome immunosup-pression in the tumor-bearing host. We have established a variety of tumor therapeutic protocols that aim to activate type-1 immunity, such as tumor-vaccine therapy with CpG encapsulat-ed in liposomes, cell therapy using tumor-specific Th1 cells, and gene therapy using gene-engineered Th1 cells. We found that CpG encapsulated in liposomes stimulated IL-12-producing DC and induced IFN-gamma-producing NK cells, NKT cells, and tumor-specific CTL. Th1 cell therapy was also shown to be beneficial for acceleration of APC/Th1 cell-cell interaction in the DLN, which was critical for inducing tumor-specific CTL at the tumor site. Therefore, we conclude that the activation of type-1 innate and acquired immunity is crucial for tumor immunotherapy in order to overcome strong immunosuppression in the tumor-bearing host.