Sarcopenia, an age-related decline in skeletal muscle mass and function, dramatically affects the quality of life. Although there is a consensus that sarcopenia is a multifactorial syndrome, the etiology and underlying mechanisms are not yet delineated. Moreover, research about nutritional interventions to prevent the development of sarcopenia is mainly focused on the amount and quality of protein intake. The impact of several nutrition strategies that consider timing of food intake, anti-inflammatory nutrients, metabolic control, and the role of mitochondrial function on the progression of sarcopenia is not fully understood. This narrative review summarizes the metabolic background of this phenomenon and proposes an integral nutritional approach (including dietary supplements such as creatine monohydrate) to target potential molecular pathways that may affect reduce or ameliorate the adverse effects of sarcopenia. Lastly, miRNAs, in particular those produced by skeletal muscle (MyomiR), might represent a valid tool to evaluate sarcopenia progression as a potential rapid and early biomarker for diagnosis and characterization.

Respiratory/inspiratory muscle training (RMT/IMT) has been proposed to improve the endurance performance of athletes in normoxia. In recent years, due to the increased use of hypoxic training method among athletes, the RMT applicability has also been tested as a method to minimize adverse effects since hyperventilation may cause respiratory muscle fatigue during prolonged exercise in hypoxia. We performed a review in order to determine factors potentially affecting the change in endurance performance in hypoxia after RMT in healthy subjects. A comprehensive search was done in the electronic databases MEDLINE and Google Scholar including keywords: “RMT/IMT,” and/or “endurance performance,” and/or “altitude” and/or “hypoxia.” Seven appropriate studies were found until April 2018. Analysis of the studies showed that two RMT methods were used in the protocols: respiratory muscle endurance (RME) (isocapnic hyperpnea: commonly 10–30′, 3–5 d/week) in three of the seven studies, and respiratory muscle strength (RMS) (Powerbreathe device: commonly 2 × 30 reps at 50% MIP (maximal inspiratory pressure), 5–7 d/week) in the remaining four studies. The duration of the protocols ranged from 4 to 8 weeks, and it was found in synthesis that during exercise in hypoxia, RMT promoted (1) reduced respiratory muscle fatigue, (2) delayed respiratory muscle metaboreflex activation, (3) better maintenance of SaO2 and blood flow to locomotor muscles. In general, no increases of maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) were described. Ventilatory function improvements (maximal inspiratory pressure) achieved by using RMT fostered the capacity to adapt to hypoxia and minimized the impact of respiratory stress during the acclimatization stage in comparison with placebo/sham. In conclusion, RMT was found to elicit general positive effects mainly on respiratory efficiency and breathing patterns, lower dyspneic perceptions and improved physical performance in conditions of hypoxia. Thus, this method is recommended to be used as a pre-exposure tool for strengthening respiratory muscles and minimizing the adverse effects caused by hypoxia related hyperventilation. Future studies will assess these effects in elite athletes.

Post-exercise recovery is a broad term that refers to the restoration of training capacity. After training or competition, there is fatigue accumulation and a reduction in sports performance. In the hours and days following training, the body recovers and performance is expected to return to normal or improve. ScienceDirect, PubMed/MEDLINE, and Google Scholar databases were reviewed to identify studies and position declarations examining the relationship between nutrition and sports recovery. As an evidence-based framework, a 4R’s approach to optimizing post-exercise recovery was identified: (i) Rehydration—a fundamental process that will depend on the athlete, environment and sports event; (ii) Refuel—the consumption of carbohydrates is not only important to replenish the glycogen reserves but also to contribute to the energy requirements for the immune system and tissue reparation. Several bioengineered carbohydrates were discussed but further research is needed; (iii) Repair—post-exercise ingestion of high-quality protein and creatine monohydrate benefit the tissue growth and repair; and (iv) Rest—pre-sleep nutrition has a restorative effect that facilitates the recovery of the musculoskeletal, endocrine, immune, and nervous systems. Nutritional consultancy based on the 4R’s is important for the wise stewardship of the hydration, feeding, and supplementation strategies to achieve a timely recovery.

Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) is considered a potent adaptogen and anti-stress agent that could have some potential to improve physical performance. This preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA)-based comprehensive systematic review and Bayesian meta-analysis aimed to evaluate clinical trials up to 2020 from PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar databases regarding the effect of Ashwagandha supplementation on physical performance in healthy individuals. Besides implementing estimation statistics analysis, we developed Bayesian hierarchical models for a pre-specified subgroup meta-analysis on strength/power, cardiorespiratory fitness and fatigue/recovery variables. A total of 13 studies met the requirements of this systematic review, although only 12 were included in the quantitative analysis. A low-to-moderate overall risk of bias of the trials included in this study was detected. All Bayesian hierarchical models converged to a target distribution (Ȓ = 1) for both meta-analytic effect size (μ) and between-study standard deviation (τ). The meta-analytic approaches of the included studies revealed that Ashwagandha supplementation was more efficacious than placebo for improving variables related to physical performance in healthy men and female. In fact, the Bayesian models showed that future interventions might be at least in some way beneficial on the analyzed outcomes considering the 95% credible intervals for the meta-analytic effect size. Several practical applications and future directions are discussed, although more comparable studies are needed in exercise training, and athletic populations are needed to derive a more stable estimate of the true underlying effect.

Background: Kinanthropometry offers to exercise and health professionals a standardized procedure of acquiring surface anatomical measurements that might be used to track changes in body composition. Aim: To describe simple anthropometric indices to monitor body composition changes in amateur and elite athletes, and to provide reference values during the competition phase. Methods: A search of articles indexed in PubMed/MEDLINE, ScienceDirect, Cochrane, and SciELO databases using the string body composition AND (anthropometric OR skinfolds OR circumferences OR girth OR estimation equation) AND “body fat”. Inclusion criteria were: quantitative and/or qualitative research published between 2009 and 2020, written in English or Spanish, reporting simple anthropometric indices that included skinfolds, girths, or basic measures in amateur and elite athletes. Results: A total of 51 studies (Price’s index = 66.4%) met all the inclusion criteria and were included in this scoping review. Contrary to the frequent practice, the use of a regression equation might not be accurate to evaluate body composition. To avoid this, anthropometrists should base their analysis on the absolute values of the sum of skinfolds (∑S) and related variables, such as skinfold-corrected girths and lean mass index. While not definitive, because further research is required, the practical recommendations and updated reference values in competition phase provided by this review would contribute to the accurate identification of body composition changes. Conclusions: ∑S and lean mass index have been shown to be valid for monitoring changes in fat mass and fat-free mass, respectively. More research is needed to derive the lean mass index-specific coefficient for each sports population.

The immune function is closely related to iron (Fe) homeostasis and allostasis. The aim of this bioinformatics-assisted review was twofold; (i) to update the current knowledge of Fe metabolism and its relationship to the immune system, and (ii) to perform a prediction analysis of regulatory network hubs that might serve as potential biomarkers during stress-induced immunosuppression. Several literature and bioinformatics databases/repositories were utilized to review Fe metabolism and complement the molecular description of prioritized proteins. The Search Tool for the Retrieval of Interacting Genes (STRING) was used to build a protein-protein interactions network for subsequent network topology analysis. Importantly, Fe is a sensitive double-edged sword where two extremes of its nutritional status may have harmful effects on innate and adaptive immunity. We identified clearly connected important hubs that belong to two clusters: (i) presentation of peptide antigens to the immune system with the involvement of redox reactions of Fe, heme, and Fe trafficking/transport; and (ii) ubiquitination, endocytosis, and degradation processes of proteins related to Fe metabolism in immune cells (e.g., macrophages). The identified potential biomarkers were in agreement with the current experimental evidence, are included in several immunological/biomarkers databases, and/or are emerging genetic markers for different stressful conditions. Although further validation is warranted, this hybrid method (human-machine collaboration) to extract meaningful biological applications using available data in literature and bioinformatics tools should be highlighted.

Monocarboxylate transporters (MCTs) have been proposed as important mediators of the exchange between lactate (La−) producer and La− recipient (consumer) cells. Previous studies have suggested that the MCT1 A1470T genotype could be related to different physical performance phenotypes. This study followed the guidelines for Strengthening the Reporting of Genetic Association Studies (STREGA) and aimed to evaluate the distribution of the MCT1 polymorphism rs1049434 in endurance-trained athletes compared to the untrained population. Moreover, this study explored the potential influence of the polymorphism alleles phenotypes on high-intensity exercise performance. In a cross-sectional study fashion, a total of 85 triathletes from northern Spain were genotyped for MCT1 rs1049434 and compared to a control group of 107 healthy male participants (1000 Genomes Research Study for Iberian Populations in Spain). All athletes performed a 30 s Wingate all-out test (WAnT) on a cycle ergometer. Peak and mean power (absolute and relative) were measured. After verification of the Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium, the findings indicated that the MCT1 TT genotype was overrepresented in triathletes in comparison to the genotypic frequency of the general Spanish population. No significant associations were found between any MCT1 genotype and peak or mean power performance in the WAnT. Further studies are required to understand the relationship among MCT1 A1470T polymorphism, endurance-trained athletes, and high-intensity performance.

A theoretical waste, with enormous beneficial potentialFecal Microbiome Transplants (FMT), represent a paradigm shift in human medicine. Not in nature, where many animals such as Coleoptera, Lagomorphs, Primates, and Canis practice coprophagy as natural probiotics and nutrient source, and as extra digestion to harvest partially digested compounds [1]. Feces, traditionally considered only as waste, actually are composed by water (75% at a median pH of 6.7), by a diverse community of Bacteria, Fungi, Archaea, helminths, and Virus (25 -54 % of dry solids), and by undigested carbohydrate, fiber, protein, fat, and inorganic components from the diet, overall with enormous potential in health benefits [2,3].