Journal of Physiological Anthropology最新文献

A revolution in the understanding of the pathophysiology of mental illness combined with new knowledge about host/microbiome interactions and psychoneuroimmunology has opened an entirely new field of study, the "psychobiotics". The modern microbiome is quite changed compared to our ancestral one due to diet, antibiotic exposure, and other environmental factors, and these differences may well impact our brain health. The sheer complexity and scope of how diet, probiotics, prebiotics, and intertwined environmental variables could influence mental health are profound obstacles to an organized and useful study of the microbiome and psychiatric disease. However, the potential for positive anti-inflammatory effects and symptom amelioration with perhaps few side effects makes the goal of clarifying the role of the microbiota in mental health a vital one.

Aim: Sit-to-stand (STS) test is extensively used to assess the functionality of the lower body in elderly people. This study aimed to examine how the score of STS can be associated with that of maximal walking (MW) tests through a cross-sectional as well as longitudinal analysis for non-disabled older women.

Method: Times taken for a 10-time-repeated STS (STS time) and 5-m MW (MW time) were determined before (pre) and after (post) a 3-month body mass-based exercise program in 154 non-disabled women aged 60 to 79 years. In addition to the time scores, STS and MW power indexes (STS-PI and MW-PI, respectively) were calculated using the following equations: STS-PI = (body height - 0.4) × body mass × 10/STS time and MW-PI = body mass × 5/MW time.

Results: At pre- and post-intervention, STS-PI was significantly correlated to MW-PI, with higher correlation coefficients (r = 0.545-0.567, P < 0.0001) than those between the two time scores (r = 0.271-0.309, P < 0.001). The intervention significantly improved STS-time (13.6 ± 3.2 s at pre to 9.4 ± 1.8 s at post, P < 0.0001), MW time (2.4 ± 0.3 s to 2.2 ± 0.3 s, P < 0.0001), STS-PI (46.5 ± 12.5 to 65.7 ± 12.7, P < 0.0001), and MW-PI (112.1 ± 20.2 to 124.2 ± 24.4, P < 0.0001). There were significant correlations between the changes of STS and MW times (r = 0.281, P < 0.001) and between those of STS-PI and MW-PI (r = 0.366, P < 0.0001).

Conclusion: In elderly women, the performance of sit-to-stand task and its training-induced gain are associated with those of the maximal walking task. In addition, the current results indicated that translation of the performance scores of the sit-to-stand and maximal walking tasks to power indexes may be a useful approach for examining the association between the two tasks.

Background: Longevity-associated mitochondrial DNA 5178 cytosine/adenine (Mt5178 C/A) polymorphism modulates the effects of coffee consumption on the risk of hypertension, dyslipidemia, and abnormal glucose tolerance. The objective of this study was to investigate whether Mt5178 C/A polymorphism modifies the effects of coffee consumption on abnormally elevated levels of serum liver enzymes in male Japanese health check-up examinees.

Methods: A total of 421 male subjects (mean age ± SD, 54.1 ± 7.7 years) were selected from among individuals visiting the hospital for regular medical check-ups. After Mt5178 C/A genotyping, a cross-sectional study assessing the joint effects of Mt5178 C/A polymorphism and coffee consumption on elevated levels of serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST), serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and serum gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) was then conducted.

Results: For men with Mt5178C, after adjustment for age, body mass index, alcohol consumption, habitual smoking, green tea consumption, antihypertensive treatment, and antidiabetic treatment, elevated levels of serum AST, as defined as ≥30 U/L; those of serum ALT, as defined as ≥25 U/L; or those of serum GGT, as defined as ≥60 or >51 U/L, may depend on coffee consumption (P for trend = 0.013, P for trend <0.001, P for trend = 0.002, and P for trend <0.001, respectively). On the other hand, no significant joint effects of Mt5178A genotype and coffee consumption on elevated levels of serum liver enzymes were observed.

Conclusions: The present results suggest that Mt5178 C/A polymorphism modifies the effects of coffee consumption on abnormally elevated levels of serum liver enzymes in male Japanese health check-up examinees.

Background: This study investigated the effect and after-effect of lightly touching a real cane on postural sway and ankle muscle activity.

Method: Participants performed a single-leg stance (SLS) task with their eyes closed for 30 s under three tasks. In the first and third tasks, the participants performed a normal SLS. In the second task, the participants in light-grip group (n = 11) were asked to perform SLS while lightly gripping a cane with their hand. The participants in depend-on-cane group (n = 11) were asked to support their own body with a cane.

Results: Postural sway during a single-leg stance is decreased by light gripping and is accompanied by decreased co-contraction of the ankle-joint muscles. If a participant lightly gripped a cane, postural sway decreased not only during the light gripping but also immediately after the withdrawal of the cane. Although postural sway and co-contraction in the depend-on-cane group were significantly decreased during the second task compared to the first task, they were not significantly changed between the first and third tasks.

Conclusion: These results suggest that lightly gripped cane provides a haptic sensory cue that can be used to assist postural control mechanisms due to enhanced perception of self-motion through sensory interaction with the environment through the cane. Further, the haptic sensory cue during postural maintenance might be promoted as a practice effect of postural control.

Background: The human thermoregulation system responds to changes in environmental temperature, so humans can self-adapt to a wide range of climates. People from tropical and temperate areas have different cold tolerance. This study compared the tolerance of Bangladeshi (tropical) and Japanese (temperate) people to local cold exposure on cold-induced vasodilation (CIVD).

Methods: Eight Bangladeshi males (now residing in Japan) and 14 Japanese males (residing in Japan) participated in this study. All are sedentary, regular university students. The Bangladeshi subject's duration of stay in Japan was 2.50 ± 2.52 years. The subject's left hand middle finger was immersed in 5 °C water for 20 min to assess their CIVD response (the experiment was conducted in an artificial climate chamber controlled at 25 °C with 50% RH).

Results: Compared with the Bangladeshi (BD) group, the Japanese (JP) group displayed some differences. There were significant differences between the BD and JP groups in temperature before immersion (TBI), which were 33.04 ± 1.98 and 34.62 ± 0.94 °C, and time of temperature rise (TTR), which were 5.35 ± 0.82 and 3.72 ± 0.68 min, respectively. There was also a significant difference in the time of sensation rise (TSR) of 8.69 ± 6.49 and 3.26 ± 0.97 min between the BD and JP groups, respectively (P < 0.05). Moreover, the JP group showed a quick TTR after finishing immersion.

Conclusions: The Japanese group (temperate) has a higher tolerance to local cold exposure than the Bangladeshi group (tropical) evaluated by the CIVD test.

We aimed to investigate the relationship between mtDNA polymorphism and physiological responses to hypobaric hypoxia. The study included 28 healthy male students, consisting of 18 students in haplogroup D and 10 in haplogroup M7+G. Measurement sensors were attached to the participants for approximately 30 min in an environment with a temperature of 28 °C. After resting for 15 min, the programmed operation of the hypobaric chamber decreased the atmospheric pressure by 11.9 Torr every minute to simulate an increase in altitude of 150 m until 9.7 Torr (equivalent to 2500 m) and then decreased 9.7 Torr every minute until 465 Torr (equivalent to 4000 m). At each altitude, the pressure was maintained for 15 min and various measurements were taken. Haplogroup D showed higher SpO2 (p < 0.05) and significantly higher SpO2 during the pressure recovery period when compared with haplogroup M7+G. The distal skin temperature was higher in haplogroup D when compared with M7+G. These results suggested that haplogroup D maintained SpO2 at a higher level with higher peripheral blood flow during acute hypobaric exposure.

This study was designed to investigate the relationship between the microclimate temperature and clothing insulation (Icl) under comfortable environmental conditions. In total, 20 subjects (13 women, 7 men) took part in this study. Four environmental temperatures were chosen: 14°C (to represent March/April), 25°C (May/June), 29°C (July/August), and 23°C (September/October). Wind speed (0.14ms-1) and humidity (45%) were held constant. Clothing microclimate temperatures were measured at the chest (Tchest) and on the interscapular region (Tscapular). Clothing temperature of the innermost layer (Tinnermost) was measured on this layer 30 mm above the centre of the left breast. Subjects were free to choose the clothing that offered them thermal comfort under each environmental condition. We found the following results. 1) All clothing factors except the number of lower clothing layers (Llower), showed differences between the different environmental conditions (P<0.05). The ranges of Tchest were 31.6 to 33.5°C and 32.2 to 33.4°C in Tscapular. The range of Tinnermost was 28.6 to 32.0°C. The range of the upper clothing layers (Lupper) and total clothing mass (Mtotal) was 1.1 to 3.2 layers and 473 to 1659 g respectively. The range of Icl was 0.78 to 2.10 clo. 2) Post hoc analyses showed that analysis of Tinnermost produced the same results as for that of Icl. Likewise, the analysis of Lupper produced the same result as the analysis of the number of total layers (Ltotal) within an outfit. 3) Air temperature (ta) had positive relationships with Tchest and Tscapular and with Tinnermost but had inverse correlations with Icl, Mtotal, Lupper and Ltotal. Tchest, Tscapular, and Tinnermost increased as ta rose. 4) Icl had inverse relationships with Tchest and Tinnermost, but positive relationships with Mtotal, Lupper and Ltotal. Icl could be estimated by Mtotal, Lupper, and Tscapular using a multivariate linear regression model. 5) Lupper had positive relationships with Icl and Mtotal, but Llower did not. Subjects hardly changed Llower under environmental comfort conditions between March and October. This indicates that each of the Tchest, Mtotal, and Lupper was a factor in predicting Icl. Tinnermost might also be a more influential factor than the clothing microclimate temperature.

Background: Although serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP) levels have been associated with hypertension, and ALP is known as an enzyme affected by alcohol consumption, no study has been published on the associations between ALP and the risk of hypertension in relation to drinking status.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study of 2,681 participants (837 men and 1,846 women) aged 30 to 89 years undergoing a general health check-up to investigate the associations between ALP and hypertension in relation to drinking status.

Results: Of the 2,681 participants, 1,549 (514 men and 1,035 women) were diagnosed with hypertension. A sex difference was observed for the relationship between ALP and hypertension. While no significant association was observed for men, the association was significantly positive for women. The multivariable adjusted odds ratio and 95% coincidence interval (CI) of hypertension per increment of 1-log ALP were 0.95 (95% CI: 0.56 to 1.59) for men and 1.57 (95% CI: 1.07 to 2.33) for women. When this analysis was restricted to nondrinkers, a significantly elevated risk of hypertension was observed for men and remained significant for women; that is, 3.32 (95% CI: 1.38 to 8.02) for men and 1.68 (95% CI: 1.11 to 2.55) for women.

Conclusion: ALP is associated with hypertension for both male and female nondrinkers, but not for drinkers. For analyses of associations between ALP and blood pressure, alcohol consumption should thus be considered a potential confounder.

Background: Our previous experiment showed that the light intensity exposed on the subjects during evening time had no effect in the following morning on the efficiency of the digestion and absorption of dietary carbohydrates ingested at a usual suppertime. People who keep late hours usually have a late suppertime; thus, we examined the effects of a late suppertime on gastrointestinal activity in the following morning in comparison to that of a usual suppertime.

Methods: Twelve female university students volunteered as paid participants. The breath hydrogen test was carried out to estimate the amount of unabsorbed dietary carbohydrates and the percentage of the total amount of dietary carbohydrates in the breakfast that were unabsorbed, as well as to estimate oro-cecal transit time. The respiratory quotient was also measured to find the ratio of carbohydrates/lipid metabolism in the post-breakfast state. Subjects' peripheral blood glucose concentration was measured by a blood glucose meter. The subjects participated under two different experimental conditions: with a usual suppertime (having supper at 18:00) and a late suppertime (having supper at 23:00).

Results: The efficiency of the digestion and absorption of dietary carbohydrates in the breakfast under late suppertime conditions was higher than that under usual suppertime conditions. Usual or late suppertime had no effect on the ratio of carbohydrates to lipids oxidized after the subjects had breakfast. There were significant differences in the blood glucose level between the two conditions at 30, 60, 120, 150, and 180 minutes after having breakfast, whereas the mean blood glucose level under late suppertime conditions was significantly higher than under usual suppertime conditions.

Conclusions: Having a late supper showed a worse effect on postprandial serum glucose profiles the following morning. This study confirmed that keeping our usual meal timing is important for our health.