Earticle

Doxorubicin (DOX) is a widely used chemotherapy drug for various cancers and it is known to induce cognitive impairment. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of treadmill exercise on chemother-apy-induced memory impairment. We assessed whether DOX affects inflammation, mitochondrial Ca2+ retention capacity, and Wnt/β-catenin signaling. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into control group, exercise group, DOX-injection group, and DOX-injection and exercise group. To create a DOX-induced memory impairment model, animals were injected intraperitoneally with DOX (2 mg/kg) dissolved in saline solution once a week for 4 weeks. Treadmill exercise was performed once a day, 5 days a week, for 8 consecutive weeks. Short-term memo-ry was determined using the step-down avoidance test. Western blot was performed for the proinflammatory cytokines, Wnt/β-catenin sig-naling, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), tropomyosin receptor kinase B (TrkB) in the hippocampus. Mitochondrial Ca2+ retention ca-pacity in the hippocampus was also measured. DOX-injection rats showed deterioration of short-term memory along with decreased ex-pression of BDNF and TrkB in the hippocampus. Levels of the proinflam-matory cytokines, tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin-6, were in-creased in the DOX-injection rats. Wnt/β-catenin signaling was activat-ed and mitochondrial Ca2+ retention capacity was decreased in the DOX-injection rats. However, treadmill exercise alleviated short-term memory impairment, decreased proinflammatory cytokines, increased BDNF and TrkB expression, and enhanced mitochondrial Ca2+ retention capacity. Treadmill exercise restorated Wnt/β-catenin signaling path-way. This study demonstrated that treadmill exercise can be used for patients undergoing chemotherapy with DOX.

The aim of this study was to determine whether walking exercise can regulate the expression level of neuropathic pain- and inflammatory re-sponse markers in the ipsilateral lumbar 4 to 6 dorsal root ganglion neu-rons after sciatic nerve injury (SNI). The experimental rats were ran-domly divided into seven groups: the normal control group, sedentary groups for 3, 7, and, 14 days postinjury (dpi), and walking exercise groups for 3, 7, and 14 dpi. Western blot techniques were used to evaluate spe-cific neuropathic pain- and cytokine markers and mechanical allodynia was confirmed by paw withdrawal test. Mechanical allodynia was sig-nificantly improved in the walking exercise group compared to the sed-entary group at all 7, 10, and 14 dpi. Furthermore, growth associated protein 43 and brain-derived neurotrophic factor levels were signifi-cantly increased in the walking exercise groups compared to the sed-entary group at all 3, 7, and 14 dpi. Conversely, nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells, interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor α, calcitonin gene-related peptide, and c-Fos expression levels were significantly decreased in the walking exercise groups compared to the sedentary group at all 3, 7, and 14 dpi. These findings suggest meaning-ful information that aggressive rehabilitation walking exercise applied early after SNI might be improve mechanical allodynia, neuropathic pain and inflammatory response markers following SNI.

Developmental delays cover a wide range, with different movement characteristics occurring depending on differences in muscle tone. We aimed to investigate muscle activity and acceleration during sit-to-stand in developmentally delayed (DD) children with different muscle tones. Forty participants were divided into three groups: typically devel-oping (TD) children (n=18), DD children with hypertonia (n=12), and DD children with hypotonia (n=10). Electromyography was used to mea-sure muscle activity and BTS G-Walk was used to measure accelera-tion. As a result, the activities of the rectus abdominal muscle and quadriceps muscle were lower in DD children with hypertonia than in TD children (P<0.05). The activity of the tibialis anterior muscle was higher in DD children with hypotonia than in TD children (P<0.05). The trunk angle was greater in DD children with hypotonia than in TD chil-dren (P<0.05), and vertical acceleration was lower in DD children with hypertonia than in TD children (P<0.05). Based on these differences, we will be able to provide intervention programs appropriate for the characteristics of DD children with different muscle tone.

Plank is a readily accessible form of exercise that can benefit individu-als of various fitness levels. However, its effectiveness in older individu-als has not been conclusively established. Specifically, its impact on re-spiratory function, physical fitness, and immunocytes in them has not been thoroughly verified. The study encompassed participants with an average age of 64.33±1.98 years. All participants were randomly as-signed to either the control group (COG) or the plank exercise group (PXG). The plank exercise was conducted 3 days a week for 12 weeks. While the values in the COG deteriorated, the PXG showed significant improvements in several parameters. Forced expiratory volume in one second and peak expiratory flow increased by approximately 27% and 16%, respectively, in the PXG, demonstrating significant differences (P<0.001) between the two groups. Additionally, VO2max, grip strength, and sit-ups increased by about 12%, 18%, and 42% in the PXG. Notably, innate immunocytes, such as NK cells, increased by approximately 30% in the PXG. For adaptive immunocytes, including CD3+ T cells, CD4+ T cells, and CD8+ T cells, there were notable increases of around 18%, 19%, and 28%, respectively, in the PXG. These findings underline signifi-cant differences (P<0.001) between the two groups. This study pro-vides confirmation that engaging in plank exercise can enhance the function of immunocytes, while also improving respiratory capacity and physical fitness in older adults.

This study aimed to verify the effects of a music-based exercise pro-gram on postural balance and emotional factors among instrumental-ists. We recruited 11 instrumentalists aged 25–45 years who were asked to perform a music-based exercise program for 60 min per ses-sion, three sessions weekly, for 8 weeks. The anterior balance and lat-eral alignment of the participants were determined using a body pos-ture analyzer. To assess the emotional factors, the World Health Organi-zation Quality of Life, stress response inventory, and Rosenberg self-es-teem scale were used. This study did not reveal a statistically significant difference in anterior postural imbalance and lateral misalignment. In contrast, emotional factors, including quality of life, stress response, and the self-esteem subcategories, exhibited significant differences. The music-based exercise program in this study significantly improved the emotional factors. Nevertheless, a more structured and long-term program should be developed to ensure the improvement of postural imbalance among instrumentalists.

The objective of this study was to assess the effect of two different strength-training methods on both male and female water polo players’ performance and shoulder pain. The players were randomly allocated to a maximum strength (MS: 14 males, 8 females) or power strength (PS: 13 males, 8 females) training group. Before and after the intervention, we assessed player´s anthropometric characteristics, shoulder internal and external rotation strength, hand grip strength, upper body strength, countermovement jump height, throwing velocity, swimming speed, shoulder pain on a visual analogue scale (VAS), wellness, and rate of perceived exertion per session. We observed no significant improve-ment (P<0.05) in specific skills but enhancement in hand grip strength in male players. In female players in the MS group, throwing speed and bench press weight decreased significantly (P<0.05). Shoulder external rotation strength at 240°/sec in male MS group players and shoulder external rotation strength at 60°/sec in female PS group players de-creased significantly (P<0.05). In addition, from the first to the last week, shoulder pain increased significantly (P<0.05) in all players. Inverse correlations (P<0.05) were found between VAS and shoulder rotation strength in males in the PS group, and between wellness and shoulder internal rotation strength in men in the MS group and women in the PS group. We found that both MS and PS training did not enhance perfor-mance and increased shoulder pain in male and female water polo players.

This study was conducted on elite bodybuilders for 6 weeks using two weight loss methods (traditional method=high-weight loss vs. new method=low-weight loss). The subjects of this study were 26 male ac-tive elite bodybuilders who voluntarily wanted to participate in this ex-periment, and were divided into experimental group and traditional group. The traditional and experimental groups underwent dietary re-strictions and training for 6 weeks. The conclusion obtained from the results of this study is that in the case of anthropometric variables, there is a difference in weight class between the two groups. The ex-perimental group’s upper arm circumference was maintained com-pared to the pre-measured value after post-measurement, while the traditional group decreased, and a significant interaction effect was observed. In particular, a significant interaction effect was observed. In that the absolute value of maximum oxygen intake was significantly in-creased only in the post-experimental group compared to the pretest, and an interaction effect was observed, the use of low-weight loss method is more effective than the traditional method of high-weight loss method. An increase in some cytokines was observed despite tradition-al weight loss, but it did not cause an excessive decrease in immunity or a sharp decrease in performance factors. As a result of this experi-ment, it is judged that the use of a low-weight loss method is more pref-erable than the traditional high-weight loss method in relation to perfor-mance variables.

Six-min walk test (6MWT) is widely used exercise test for the evalua-tion of interstitial lung disease (ILD). However, the long test duration and need for long and flat surface hinder its routine use. One-min sit-to-stand test (1-STST) is devoid of such limitations, but has been scarcely evaluated. The study was conducted to evaluate the performance of 1-STST by correlating it with 6MWT in ILD patients. Stable ILD patients were prospectively enrolled. After initial spirometry, all patients per-formed 6MWT and 1-STST following the standard recommendations. Exercise capacity and physiological parameters (heart rate, pulse oxy-gen saturation, blood pressure and dyspnea [modified Borg scale]) in-cluding peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO2) were correlated after the tests using Pearson correlation, Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and kappa (κ) coefficient. The results showed that the mean age of the patients (n=60) was 58.8±11.5 years (male:female=1:1). Repetitions af-ter 1-STST showed significant correlation with 6MWT (r=0.48; P<0.001). Changes in the physiological variables were similar (P>0.05) with good consistency (ICC=0.68–0.95) between 6MWT and 1-STST. Both lowest SpO2 and difference in SpO2 also showed good agreement (ICC=0.86; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.77–0.92 and ICC=0.68; 95% CI, 0.47–0.81 respectively) and significant correlation (r=0.76 and r=0.52, respectively). 1-STST and 6MWT were consistent in identifying patients having oxygen desaturation ≥4% (κ=0.56; 96% CI, 0.30–0.82). The results demonstrated that the performance of 1-STST was consis-tent with 6MWT in terms of exercise capacity and change in physiolog-ical parameters. 1-STST can be a valid alternative to 6MWT in the as-sessment of ILD patients, especially in peripheral health centers.

Epoch in accelerometer measurements is an important option that af-fects the results of physical activity (PA) analysis. Many studies have been conducted to investigate the effect of epoch on PA output in ado-lescents, but few have been performed on highly active youth athletes. We aimed to examine the differences in energy expenditure and time spent in different activity intensities by applying various epoch lengths in adolescent athletes. The participants of this study comprised 31 male athletes aged 12 to 13 in basketball, soccer, and taekwondo teams. Ath-letes wore a tri-axial accelerometer attached to the right hip for 6 to 7 consecutive days, including sleeping time. Subsequently, the recorded data from the accelerometer were downloaded using the ActiLife soft-ware and analyzed by varying the epoch to 1, 10, 30, and 60 sec. Daily average metabolic equivalents (METs) increased as the epoch in-creased (F=2.918, P=0.037), showing a significant difference between 1 and 60-sec epochs. As epoch length increased, sedentary (0–1.5 METs) (F=94.001, P=0.000) and high intensity (6 METs and higher) activity time (F=3.536, P=0.017) decreased, while low (1.5–3 METs) (F=173.949, P= 0.000), moderate (3–6 METs) (F=70.792, P=0.000), and moderate-to-vig-orous activity (3 METs and higher intensity) (F=34.683, P=0.000) times increased. Comparing PA among adolescent athletes by varying epoch settings of accelerometers revealed differences in PA levels and time spent in different activity intensities. Future studies should consider the characteristic changes in the PA outputs according to the epoch length in very active adolescent athletes.