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Exercise is one of the external factors associated with impairment of intestinal integrity, possibly leading to increased permeability and altered absorption. Here, we aimed to examine to what extent endurance exercise in the glycogen‐depleted state can affect intestinal permeability toward small molecules and protein‐derived peptides in relation to markers of intestinal function. Eleven well‐trained male volunteers (27 ± 4 years) ingested 40 g of casein protein and a lactulose/rhamnose (L/R) solution after an overnight fast in resting conditions (control) and after completing a dual – glycogen depletion and endurance – exercise protocol (first protocol execution). The entire procedure was repeated 1 week later (second protocol execution). Intestinal permeability was measured as L/R ratio in 5 h urine and 1 h plasma. Five‐hour urine excretion of betacasomorphin‐7 (BCM7), postprandial plasma amino acid levels, plasma fatty acid binding protein 2 (FABP‐2), serum pre‐haptoglobin 2 (preHP2), plasma glucagon‐like peptide 2 (GLP2), serum calprotectin, and dipeptidylpeptidase‐4 (DPP4) activity were studied as markers for excretion, intestinal functioning and recovery, inflammation, and BCM7 breakdown activity, respectively. BCM7 levels in urine were increased following the dual exercise protocol, in the first as well as the second protocol execution, whereas 1 h‐plasma L/R ratio was increased only following the first exercise protocol execution. FABP2, preHP2, and GLP2 were not changed after exercise, whereas calprotectin increased. Plasma citrulline levels following casein ingestion (iAUC) did not increase after exercise, as opposed to resting conditions. Endurance exercise in the glycogen depleted state resulted in a clear increase of BCM7 accumulation in urine, independent of DPP4 activity and intestinal permeability. Therefore, strenuous exercise could have an effect on the amount of food‐derived bioactive peptides crossing the epithelial barrier. The health consequence of increased passage needs more in depth studies.
Background: The emergence of smartphones and wearable sensor technologies enables easy and unobtrusive monitoring of physiological and psychological data related to an individual’s resilience. Heart rate variability (HRV) is a promising biomarker for resilience based on between-subject population studies, but observational studies that apply a within-subject design and use wearable sensors in order to observe HRV in a naturalistic real-life context are needed. Objective: This study aims to explore whether resting HRV and total sleep time (TST) are indicative and predictive of the within-day accumulation of the negative consequences of stress and mental exhaustion. The tested hypotheses are that demands are positively associated with stress and resting HRV buffers against this association, stress is positively associated with mental exhaustion and resting HRV buffers against this association, stress negatively impacts subsequent-night TST, and previous-evening mental exhaustion negatively impacts resting HRV, while previous-night TST buffers against this association. Methods: In total, 26 interns used consumer-available wearables (Fitbit Charge 2 and Polar H7), a consumer-available smartphone app (Elite HRV), and an ecological momentary assessment smartphone app to collect resilience-related data on resting HRV, TST, and perceived demands, stress, and mental exhaustion on a daily basis for 15 weeks. Results: Multiple linear regression analysis of within-subject standardized data collected on 2379 unique person-days showed that having a high resting HRV buffered against the positive association between demands and stress (hypothesis 1) and between stress and mental exhaustion (hypothesis 2). Stress did not affect TST (hypothesis 3). Finally, mental exhaustion negatively predicted resting HRV in the subsequent morning but TST did not buffer against this (hypothesis 4). Conclusions: To our knowledge, this study provides first evidence that having a low within-subject resting HRV may be both indicative and predictive of the short-term accumulation of the negative effects of stress and mental exhaustion, potentially forming a negative feedback loop. If these findings can be replicated and expanded upon in future studies, they may contribute to the development of automated resilience interventions that monitor daily resting HRV and aim to provide users with an early warning signal when a negative feedback loop forms, to prevent the negative impact of stress on long-term health outcomes.
MULTIFILE
While the creation of an energy deficit (ED) is required for weight loss, it is well documented that actual weight loss is generally lower than what expected based on the initially imposed ED, a result of adaptive mechanisms that are oppose to initial ED to result in energy balance at a lower set-point. In addition to leading to plateauing weight loss, these adaptive responses have also been implicated in weight regain and weight cycling (add consequences). Adaptions occur both on the intake side, leading to a hyperphagic state in which food intake is favored (elevated levels of hunger, appetite, cravings etc.), as well as on the expenditure side, as adaptive thermogenesis reduces energy expenditure through compensatory reductions in resting metabolic rate (RMR), non-exercise activity expenditure (NEAT) and the thermic effect of food (TEF). Two strategies that have been utilized to improve weight loss outcomes include increasing dietary protein content and increasing energy flux during weight loss. Preliminary data from our group and others demonstrate that both approaches - especially when combined - have the capacity to reduce the hyperphagic response and attenuate reductions in energy expenditure, thereby minimizing the adaptive mechanisms implicated in plateauing weight loss, weight regain and weight cycling. Past research has largely focused on one specific component of energy balance (e.g. hunger or RMR) rather than assessing the impact of these strategies on all components of energy balance. Given that all components of energy balance are strongly connected with each other and therefore can potentially negate beneficial impacts on one specific component, the primary objective of this application is to use a comprehensive approach that integrates all components of energy balance to quantify the changes in response to a high protein and high energy flux, alone and in combination, during weight loss (Fig 1). Our central hypothesis is that a combination of high protein intake and high energy flux will be most effective at minimizing both metabolic and behavioral adaptations in several components of energy balance such that the hyperphagic state and adaptive thermogenesis are attenuated to lead to superior weight loss results and long-term weight maintenance.
