Search

Ozone (O3) represents a great threat to human health, contributing to respiratory diseases and premature mortality. This pollutant is often considered a critical pollutant in regions of southern Brazil. Exposure to this pollutant during vigorous physical activity should be the subject of thorough investigations due to the increased ventilation rate and altered breathing pattern present during vigorous physical activity that result in greater inhalation of O3. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the health risk of exposure to low, mean, and high concentrations of O3 during different durations of exercise in the city of Rio Grande (southern Brazil). Healthy young men (n = 45) performed cardiopulmonary exercise testing, and ventilation rate data were collected to predict total ventilation and pollutant inhalation during a 5 km running session. The O3 concentration in the city of Rio Grande was obtained from data reported by the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS). The environmental health risk was calculated based on the potential intake dose. The lowest, mean, and highest concentrations of O3 detected during the monitoring period were 32.5, 64.9, and 115.2 µg/m3, respectively. In all evaluated scenarios, there was a toxicological risk (RQ > 1), except when exercising when the O3 concentration was lowest for the shortest length of time (p

Obesity and physical inactivity threaten human health, and both could be solved with exercise. However, a higher amount of pollutants is inhaled during exercise. Exposure to air pollution increases the incidence and progression of diseases. Therefore, the aim of the study was to investigate the rate of pollution inhalation of lean, overweight, and obese individuals in a low and high-intensity hypothetical exercise session. Healthy sedentary men (n = 135) classified as lean, overweight, or obese were enrolled in our study. All participants performed a cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPX) to collect ventilation rate (VE) data, which was used to predict total ventilation and pollutant inhalation of a 5-km running session. Air pollutant concentration of Sao Paulo City, Brazil was evaluated and the toxicological risk was estimated based on the potential intake dose. The concentrations of PM2.5 were 29.57 μg/m3 and 51.71 μg/m3, PM10 were 45.85 μg/m3 and 74 μg/m3, NO2 were 63.71 μg/m3 and 66.65 μg/m3, and O3 were 69 μg/m3 and 37 μg/m3, respectively in the summer and winter. In the hypothetical exercise session, total VE and time in both the first and second threshold were increased in the obese group (p

Traffic-related air pollution is an alarming source of pollutants exposure and consequently to the development of several adverse health effects. Otherwise, green spaces are reported to improve health status. Although, in an urban scenario most of these areas are located near air pollutants sources, as vehicle fleet. Thus, the aim of the present study was to determine, during one year, the levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and ozone (O3) in the main parks from Porto Alegre—Brazil. This study focused on three urban parks: Germania, Moinhos de Vento and Marinha do Brasil Park. Nitrogen dioxide and ozone measurements were accessed by passive monitoring in four campaigns including all seasons and performed at distances of 0 m, 15 m, 30 m, 45 m, 60 m and 75 m from the main road at each park. NO2 and O3 concentration among the parks was not different (p > 0.05), as well as the mean concentration of NO2 and O3 of all parks in the six sites did not differ (p > 0.05). However, season 1 and 3 showed increased NO2 and O3 concentration. Temperature were decreased in season 1 and 3 (p p > 0.05). Traffic flow was higher in Moinhos de Vento Park and Marinha do Brasil Park compared to Germania Park (p 2 and O3 concentration in urban parks from Porto Alegre.

In the last few decades, obesity has grown exponentially and it progression is imminent contributing to the increase of mortality levels. Artificial Intelligence (AI), which is Computer Science area, could be well applied to management of obesity, such as an important tool to avoid the threat caused by this disease. The aim of this literature review was to show AI applications to obesity management and discuss their effectiveness. The search was performed in the following databases: Public Medline (PubMed), Web of Science, Biblioteca Regional de Medicina (BIREME) and Google Academic, by using following keywords, “artificial intelligence” and “obesity”. Our results led to some Artificial Intelligence systems used in obesity handling, which were: the Decision Support System to bariatric surgery patients; the MOPET app to motivate physical activity; Parameter Decreasing Methods and Artificial Neural Network to correlate obesity to cardiovascular disease; Artificial Neural Network to predict resting energy expenditure; a Neuro-Fuzzy Model to refine body mass index result; an Image Processing Algorithm; and a Support Vector Machine that monitors food intake. In this review, all investigated AI systems may have a tendency to more accurate results indicating a promising tool to manage obesity and related diseases.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of chromium picolinate (CrPic) supplementation associated with aerobic exercise using measures of oxidative stress in rats exposed to air pollution. Methods: Sixty-one male Wistar rats were divided into eight groups: residual oil fly ash (ROFA) exposure and sedentary (ROFA-SED); ROFA exposure, sedentary and supplemented (ROFA-SED-CrPic); ROFA exposure and trained (ROFA-AT); ROFA exposure, supplemented and trained (ROFA-AT-CrPic); sedentary (Sal-SED); sedentary and supplemented (Sal-SED-CrPic); trained (Sal-AT); and supplemented and trained (Sal-AT-CrPic). Rats exposed to ROFA (air pollution) received 50 µg of ROFA daily via intranasal instillation. Supplemented rats received CrPic (1 mg/kg/day) daily by oral gavage. Exercise training was performed on a rat treadmill (5×/week). Oxidative parameters were evaluated at the end of protocols. Results: Trained groups demonstrated lower gain of body mass (P

The increase in minute ventilation during exercise led to higher inhalation of air pollution and, consequently, to exacerbation of health issues. Therefore, the intensity of exercise and the air pollution concentration of the environment could be determinant variables to poor outcomes. This study aimed to investigate the inhaled dose of particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5) during a moderate- and high-intensity interval exercise session performed in the morning and evening at different locations of Porto Alegre City. Eighteen individuals performed a cardiopulmonary exercise test, a moderate-intensity interval exercise (MIIE), and a high-intensity interval exercise (HIIE). Heart rate was monitored to estimate minute ventilation and total ventilation of the session. The concentration of PM2.5 was measured during the morning (6–8a.m.) and evening (6–8p.m.) by fixed-site monitors placed at five points of Porto Alegre City. The PM2.5 inhalation during MIIE and HIIE performed in the morning and evening in the monitoring points was estimated. HIIE showed higher minute ventilation (VE) (p = 0.0048) and total ventilation did not differ between groups (p = 0.4648). PM2.5 concentrations were higher during the mornings (p

Obesity is a disease of epidemic proportions, associated with chronic inflammation in response to increased secretion of inflammatory cytokines originating in adipose tissue. Exercise has been shown to be effective in combating these changes. The aim of this study was to review the anti-inflammatory effect of physical exercise in the pathogenesis of obesity. We conducted a search of the terms “exercise”, “obesity” and “inflammation” on Medline and PubMed databases, restricting results to clinical trials published since 2011. The retrieved studies showed that physical exercise could, via different pathways, reduce levels of CRP, IL-6 and TNF-α, as well as other proinflammatory markers. Additionally, exercise was able to increase expression of genes related to the production of nitric oxide, positively modulating endothelial function and chronic inflammation in obese patients, with or without caloric restriction. In conclusion, aerobic exercise of moderate intensity is an effective intervention strategy for chronic inflammation associated with obesity.

The urbanization process resulted in incredible achievements for society, unfortunately together with economic, social, and technological development it deteriorates air quality and encourages sedentary behavior. Air pollution inhalation is responsible for a massive negative health effect. The practice of regular physical exercise is strongly encouraged to achieve a healthy lifestyle. However, particularly during a physical exercise session, the respiratory system undergoes some physiological adaptations that lead to an increase in the volume of inhaled air, so exercising in a polluted environment would consequently augment the number of pollutants inhaled. In this scenario, would it be safer to stay physically inactive? Or to choose an indoor facility to exercise? Or to keep performing outdoor activities once the benefits achieved with exercise will overcome the possible damage caused by additional exposure to air pollution? Currently, these questions still do not have a decisive answer, so we designed a hypothesis to be tested in which exercise would be beneficial regardless of the chosen place. Outdoor and indoor pollution are both equally harmful to health, however, we do not know if it would have a difference to exercise in one of them.

L-arginine supplementation has been related to increased maximum strength and improvement of hemodynamic parameters in several diseases. The aim of our study was to evaluate the effect of L-arginine supplementation and resistance training on muscle mass, hemodynamic function and DNA damage in healthy rats subjected to a low-arginine concentration diet. Twenty three Wistar rats (290-320g) were divided into 4 groups: Sedentary (SED-Arg, n = 6), Sedentary+Arg (SED+Arg, n = 6), Resistance Training (RT-Arg, n = 5), Resistance Training+Arg (RT+Arg, n = 6). Trained animals performed resistance training protocol in a squat apparatus adapted for rats (4 sets of 10-12 repetitions, 90s of interval, 4x/week, 65-75% of One Maximum Repetition, for 8 weeks). Comet assay was performed to measure DNA damage in leukocytes. The resistance training induced higher muscle mass in trained groups. The L-arginine supplementation increased both gastrocnemius and left ventricle to body mass ratio and increased left ventricle contractility without changing hemodynamic variables. The SED+Arg group showed higher concentration of extracellular heat shock protein 72 (eHSP72) and total testosterone, as well as lower uric acid concentration in blood versus SED-Arg group. The administration of isolated L-arginine supplementation and its association with resistance training promoted less damage in leukocytes DNA. In conclusion, the L-arginine supplementation showed synergistic effect with resistance training regarding leukocyte genomic stability in a low-L-arginine diet scenario.

L-arginine (Arg) is a precursor of several substances with remarkable physiological functions, such as nitric oxide (NO) and the amino acid creatine. Arg supplementation has been associated with increased strength in high-intensity exercise. However, there is no clear evidence of association of supplementation with Resistance Training (RT) on their antioxidant and ergogenic effects, specifically on their genotoxic protection. Therefore, we evaluated the effect of supplementation of Arg associated with RT 8 weeks about gaining maximum strength and DNA damage in rats. Ten Wistar rats (220-270g, 90 days old) were randomly divided into 3 groups: sedentary (SED, n = 4), Resistance Training (RT, n = 2) and Resistance Training + L-Arginine (RT+Arg, n = 4). Trained rats were submitted to the protocol of RT in a squat apparatus adapted for rats (4 sets of 10-12 reps with 90s interval, 4 times/week, 65-75% of One Maximum Repetition (1MR) for 8 weeks). The supplemented group received Arg (500mg/kg) daily for 8 weeks. After 8 weeks, whole blood was collected from animals to perform the comet assay. It was used CASP software (CASPLabs®) for quantification of DNA damage. To quantify the maximum strength the 1MR test was performed at baseline and after the RT protocol. For comparisons among groups it was performed One- way ANOVA followed by post hoc test of Student-Newman-Keuls. For associations, it was used the Pearson correlation test. We considered the level of significance of 5%.The RT was able to protect DNA damage in rats. However, the association with Arg supplementation was able to promote greater genotoxic protection, compared to sedentary rats. These results indicate remarkable ergogenic action and genotoxic protection of Arg supplementation in association with RT.