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Obesity and lifestyle-related diseases are major problems faced by people in developed nations. Although exercise training prevents the progression of diabetes and obesity, the motivation for exercise is generally low in obese animals and humans. The autonomic nervous system (SNA) plays a crucial role in the regulation of eating behavior. Moreover, the SNA is involved in the body temperature regulation that is strictly related to body weight control, in accordance with the “thermoregulatory hypothesis” of food intake. Some neuronal peptides and hormones, like orexins and adiponectin, are also involved in the regulation of locomotion activity as well as food intake and metabolic rate. Furthermore, adiponectin as well as orexin A are involved in the control of body temperature, food intake and therefore in obesity-related diseases. The aim of this study was to investigate the changes in body temperature (Tc), and heart rate (HR) after an intracerebroventricular (ICV) injection of orexin A and adiponectin in animal model. The results of this study show that the orexin A levels are likely involved in the increase of Tc and HR. It is also clear that there is not a correlation between these parameters and adiponectin levels. Further studies are needed to assess adiponectin actions and outcome in the central nervous system in terms of energy expenditure, body temperature, heart rate and physical activity performance regulation.

Aims: In women's life, menopause is characterized by significant physiological changes often associated with an increase in body mass and obesity-associated sicknesses. Numerous researches described interdependencies of estrogen deficiency, aging, and resting energy expenditure (REE) downfall in the obesity correlated with the menopause. The aim of this study was to determining whether healthy, obese menopausal women underwent HRT treatment, showed changes in their REE, autonomic asset, and assessment of oxidative stress in comparison with obese pre- and post-menopausal women. Methodology: In this study, we measured the body composition, the REE, the oxidative stress, the diet assimilation, and the autonomic nervous system activity in three groups: pre-menopause women (n = 50), post-menopause women following hormone-replacement therapy (HRT; n = 50), and post-menopause women not following HRT (n = 50). Results: In the group with HRT a significant increase of the sympathetic activity and REE was described. Finally this group showed a notable increment of oxidative stress compared with the others, and utilizing BIA instrument, the free fat mass was increased respect to the fat mass of obese women. Conclusion: The study highlights the importance of the HRT-related physiological changes that influence body weight in menopause women. This results are important because have a practical implications for prevention and/or treatment of the obesity.

Purpose: The mechanisms involved in the coordination of muscle activity are not completely known: to investigate adaptive changes in human motor cortex Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) was often used. The sport models are frequently used to study how the training may affect the corticospinal system excitability: Karate represents a valuable sport model for this kind of investigations for its high levels of coordination required to athletes. This study was aimed at examining possible changes in the resting motor threshold (rMT) and in the corticospinal response in karate athletes, and at determining whether athletes are characterized by a specific value of rMT. Methods: We recruited 25 right-handed young karate athletes and 25 matched non-athletes. TMS was applied to primary motor cortex (M1). Motor evoked potential (MEP) were recorded by two electrodes placed above the first dorsal interosseous (FDI) muscle. We considered MEP latencies and amplitudes at rMT, 110% of rMT, and 120% of rMT. Results: The two groups were similar for age (p > 0.05), height (p > 0.05) and body mass (p > 0.05). The TMS had a 70-mm figure-of-eight coil and a maximum output of 2.2 T, placed over the left motor cortex. During the stimulation, a mechanical arm kept the coil tangential to the scalp, with the handle at 45° respect to the midline. The SofTaxic navigator system (E.M.S. Italy, www.emsmedical.net) was used in order to correctly identifying and repeating the stimulation for every subject. Compared to non-athletes, athletes showed a lower resting motor threshold (p < 0.001). Furthermore, athletes had a lower MEP latency (p < 0.001) and a higher MEP amplitude (p < 0.001) compared to non-athletes. Moreover, a ROC curve for rMT was found significant (area: 0.907; sensitivity 84%, specificity 76%). Conclusions: As the main finding, the present study showed significant differences in cortical excitability between athletes and non-athletes. The training can improve cortical excitability inducing athletes' modifications, as demonstrated in rMT and MEP values. These finding support the hypothesis that the sport practice determines specific brain organizations in relationship with the sport challenges.