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OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effects of walking combined with diet therapy (1,000–1,600 kcal/day) on insulin sensitivity in obese non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) patients. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Subjects were divided into two groups: 10 patients were managed by diet alone (group D), and 14 patients were placed in the diet and exercise group (group DE). Group DE was instructed to walk at least 10,000 steps/day on a flat field as monitored by pedometer (19,200 ± 2,100 steps/day), and group D was told to maintain a normal daily routine (4,500 ± 290 steps/day). A glucose clamp procedure at an insulin infusion rate of 40 mU · m−2 · min−1 was performed before and after the 6-; to 8-week training program. Mean serum insulin concentrations ranged from 720 to 790 pmol/l. RESULTS While body weight (BW) in groups D and DE decreased significantly (P < 0.01) during the study, the amount of BW reduction in group DE was > that in group D (7.8 ± 0.8 vs. 4.2 ± 0.5 kg, P < 0.01). After training, glucose infusion rate (GIR) and metabolic clearance rate (MCR) in group D did not significantly increase; however, GIR and MCR increased significantly in group DE, from 17.21 ± 1.11 to 26.09 ± 1.11 μmol·kg−1 · min−1 (P < 0.001) and from 3.0 ± 0.3 to 5.3 ± 0.4 ml·kg−1 · min−1 (P < 0.001), respectively. The analysis of variance showed significant effects of exercise (time × exercise, P = 0.0005) for the improvement of MCR. Significant correlations were also observed between Δ MCR and average steps per day (r = 0.7257, P < 0.005) in group DE. CONCLUSIONS Walking, which can be safely performed and easily incorporated into daily life, can be recommended as an adjunct therapy to diet treatment in obese NIDDM patients, not only for BW reduction, but also for improvement of insulin sensitivity.

Proglycosyn, a phenylacyl imidazolium compound that lowers blood glucose levels, was demonstrated previously to promote hepatic glycogen synthesis, stabilize hepatic glycogen stores, activate glycogen synthase, inactivate glycogen phosphorylase, and inhibit glycolysis. In the present study proglycosyn was found to inhibit fatty acid synthesis, stimulate fatty acid oxidation, and lower fructose 2,6-bisphosphate levels, but to have no significant effects on cell swelling and the levels of cAMP in hepatocytes prepared from fed rats. Verapamil and atropine blocked the effects of proglycosyn on glycogen metabolism, but these compounds inhibit proglycosyn accumulation by hepatocytes. Proglycosyn stimulated phosphoprotein phosphatase activity in postmitochondrial extracts, as measured by dephosphorylation of phosphorylase a and glycogen synthase D, but this action required a very high concentration of the compound, making it unlikely to be the actual mechanism involved. It is proposed that a metabolite of proglycosyn is responsible for its metabolic effects.

It has been well documented that glucose intolerance is associated with aging, but it is not yet clear whether this phenomenon is due to the aging process itself or is secondary to the appearance of other age-related conditions among which physical inactivity is one of most important variables. To evaluate the effect of aging process and/or physical inactivity on insulin action, this study was undertaken using the euglycemic insulin clamp technique and the oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). Subjects without diabetes mellitus and other serious diseases consisted of 14 non-obese aged individuals and 10 young controls (YC group), ranging in age from 63 to 85 yrs, and from 19 to 21 yrs, respectively. The aged individuals were further divided into two groups (one was termed as the AS group, in which 7 aged subjects had been confined to bed for at least 3 months and the other was termed as the AC group in which 7 aged controls kept their daily physical activity such as walking). The results of OGTT did not show any remarkable differences between AC and YC groups. In the AS group, however, glucose intolerance and low insulin response during OGTT were observed. In view of the tissue insulin action, MCR, which is thought as a reliable marker for tissue insulin action, evaluated by euglycemic insulin clamp was 5.31 +/- 0.68, 8.57 +/- 1.20, 9.60 +/- 0.35 ml/kg/min in the AS, AC and YC groups, respectively (AS less than AC, p less than 0.05, AS less than YC, p less than 0.01, AC less than YCM, N.S.).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

The primary role of the thymus in immunological function is unanimously recognized. It is also proposed that hypothalamus, hypophysis and adrenal system may be acting as a factor to control immunological activity, but the detail mechanism of this system remains inclarified.We have reported that serum immunogloblin levels in hypophysectomized rats and adrenalectomized rats have elevated.We analysed surface cell markers (W 3/13, W 3/25 and ox 8) of lymphoid tissue cells (thymus, spleen and peripheral blood lymphocytes) in rats either hypophysectomized or adrenalectomized using by FACS 440. Ox 8+ peripheral blood lymphocytes decreased and W 3/25+/ox 8+ ratio of spleen lymphocytes and peripheral blood lymphocytes elevated in hypophysectomized and adrenalectomized rats.These results suggest that hypophysis and adrenal axis have the potential to regulate immunological system.