Zinc and selenium are essential minerals and have roles for more than 300 metabolic reactions in the body. The purpose of this study was to investigate how exhaustive exercise affects testosterone levels and plasma lactate in cyclists who were supplemented with oral zinc and selenium for 4 weeks. For this reason, 32 male road cyclists were selected equally to four groups: PL group, placebo; Zn group, zinc supplement (30 mg/day); Se group, selenium supplement (200 μg/day); and Zn-Se group, zinc-selenium supplement. After treatment, free, total testosterone, and lactate levels of subjects were determined before and after exhaustive exercise. Resting total, free testosterone, and lactate levels did not differ significantly between groups, and were increased by exercise (P > 0.05). Serum total testosterone levels in Zn group were higher than in Se group after exercise (P < 0.05). Serum-free testosterone levels in the Zn group were higher than the other groups (P < 0.05).There was an insignificant difference between levels of lactate in the four groups after exercise (P > 0.05). The results showed that 4-week simultaneous and separately zinc and selenium supplementation had no significant effect on resting testosterone and lactate levels of subjects who consume a zinc and selenium sufficient diet. It might be possible that the effect of zinc supplementation on free testosterone depends on exercise.

Objective: Vascular aging and osteosarcopenic obesity (OSO) refers to age-related endothelial cells and body composition disorders. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of 12 weeks resistance training with elastic bands on vascular aging-related serum miR-146 expression level and atherosclerosis risk factors in elderly women with OSO. Materials and Methods: In the present single-blind randomized clinical trial, 48 elderly women with OSO (according to Dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) method results), were divided randomly into two groups of control (n=22) and experimental (n=26). The experimental group performed resistance training with elastic bands for 12 weeks and three sessions per week for all major muscle groups. Statistical analyses were carried out using SPSS statistical software version 22. Results: Between-group comparisons showed a significant decrease in serum miR-146 expression (P-value= 0.005) and total cholesterol (P-value= 0.034) in the experimental group compared to the control group. There was no significant difference in body weight (P-value= 0.440), BMI (P-value= 0.553), total fat (P-value= 0.093), BMC (P-value= 0.862), BMD (P-value= 0.564), Hs-CRP (P-value= 0.065), HDL-C (P-value= 0.515) and LDL-C (P-value= 0.889). Conclusion: Resistance trainings decrease miR-146 expression in elderly women with OSO, which was associated with decreased LDL levels and increased HDL levels, though BMI, body fat percentage, total cholesterol and HS-CRP were not significantly different probably due to the type and intensity of the exercises that require further investigation.

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IntroductionMenopause is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Physical exercise and soybean diets have been suggested to reduce the risk of CVD in postmenopausal women. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of combined resistance and endurance (RE) training and soy extract (SOY) supplementation, both known to improve endothelial function, on expression of the eNOS gene in the heart of ovariectomized (OVX) rats.Material and methodsFifty female Wistar rats were divided into five groups: 1) sham (SHAM); 2) ovariectomy (OVX); 3) ovariectomy with soy extract supplementation (OVX + SOY); 4) OVX with RE training (OVX + RE); 5) and ovariectomy plus RE training with soy extract supplementation (OVX + RE + SOY). RE training and soy extract supplementation were administered alone or in combination for 6 weeks. The effects of these treatments on cardiac eNOS expression were measured using real-time PCR.ResultsOvariectomy down-regulated cardiac eNOS gene expression; however, 6 weeks of SOY treatment or RE training reversed this effect (p ≤ 0.05). The combination of SOY plus RE was greater than RE or SOY alone in reversing estrogen-deficiency-caused eNOS down-regulation (p ≤ 0.05).ConclusionsOur data suggest that the combinatory regimen of soy extract supplementation and regular RE training may be more beneficial to cardiovascular disease risk in a menopause rat model than either exercise or soy supplementation alone.

Improved physical fitness in preconception period results in significant changes in bone gene expressions of female offspring, in particular towards osteogenic responses with improved RANKL/OPG ratio.

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Background:Based on different studies it was shown that exercise training is an important factor in preconception and prenatal care.Objective:The aim of this study was to determine whether regular preconception exercise training with or without exercise training during pregnancy decreases detrimental effects of maternal high fat diet on female offspring bone health.Materials and Methods:Twenty-four C57BL/6 female mice were fed high-fat diet (35%) and were randomly divided into four groups: trained in preconception period and exercised during pregnancy (TE); trained in preconception periods but unexercised during pregnancy (TC); untrained in preconception periods but exercised during pregnancy (CE); untrained and unexercised (CC). Trained mice were subjected to a protocol of moderate endurance exercise training over a period of 4 weeks before pregnancy. TE and CE Dams groups had access to wheels throughout pregnancy until delivery. Analyses were performed on the female offspring that did not have access to running wheels or exercise training during any portion of their lives. The relative expression levels of β-catenin, Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor ƴ (PPARƴ), osteoprotegerin (OPG), and Receptor activator of nuclear factor NF-kB ligand (RANKL) were determined by Quantitative RT-PCR (qPCR).Results:Exercise during pregnancy in isolation had no effect on any measure genes but exercise both before and during pregnancy affected all genes. Exercise only before pregnancy increased β-catenin and OPG and decreased PPARƴ, RANKL, and RANKL/OPG ratio (p<0.001). Conclusion: This study demonstrated that maternal exercise training before and during pregnancy may modulate the risk of bone disorders in offspring of mothers fed a high-fat diet.