Alcohol consumption and hormonal alterations related to muscle hypertrophy: a review

The Relationship between Lifestyle Factors and Body Compositionin Young Adults

Background: Little is known of how lifestyle factors might influence on body composition parameters in young adults from Croatia. The main purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationship between the lifestyle factors and body composition in young adults. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, participants were 271 university students (59.0% of women). Body composition was measured by using bioelectric impendance analysis (BIA). Blood pressure and heart rate were measured according to standardized protocol and Mediterranean diet adherence (MD), physical activity (PA) and psychological distress (PD) were assessed with validated questionnaires. Results: Self-rated health (SRH) and PA were inversely associated with weight, body-mass index (BMI), fat-mass percentage and blood pressure in men and with weight, BMI, fat-mass percentage and heart rate in women. Higher levels of SRH and PA were positively associated with fat-free mass percentage in both men and women. Smoking was positively associatedwith BMI and fat-mass percentage in women and with heart rate in men. Alcohol consumption was positively associated with weight and BMI in women and fat-mass percentage and heart rate in men, yet inversely associated with fat-free mass percentage only in men. PD was positively associated with weight and blood pressure in men and with BMI, fat-mass percentage and blood pressure in women. Conclusions: Our study shows that higher levels of SRH, MD and PA are related with healthy body composition parameters in young adults. Special interventions and policies that enhance PA and MD and decrease substance use and misuse (SUM) and PD should be implemented within the university school systems.

Emotions, immunity and sport: Winner and loser athlete's profile of fighting sport

Several studies have focused on the relationship between hormonal changes and affective states in sporting contexts relating to an agonistic outcome. More recently, pro-inflammatory cytokines have also been successfully associated with affective state modulation. The aim of this study was to investigate whether athletes who won or lost show different levels of steroid hormones (testosterone and cortisol), pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-1β, or expressions of anger and anxiety during six training fights in seasonal competitions down to the main seasonal competition. In 25 male kick-boxing athletes (age±SD, 28.68±5.34), anger states (RS score) and anxiety states (AS score) were assessed by STAXI-2 and STAI-Y, respectively. Cortisol (C), testosterone (T) and IL-1β salivary levels were measured by the ELISA method. The saliva samples were taken in the afternoon, 30min prior to the start and 30min from the end of both simulated and official competitions. The results showed that the RS score, T, T/C ratio salivary levels increased during the season, whereas the AS score, C and IL-1β suggested an opposite trend. Close to an official competition, the RS score, T, T/C ratio and IL-1β salivary concentrations were significantly higher, and then decreased during competition. By contrast, the AS score and C levels significantly increased throughout the official competition. In addition, significant differences were found for hormones and IL-1β concentrations as well as psychometric assessment close to the outcome of an official match. Athletes who lost showed an higher AS score and C level, while those who won were characterized by an higher level during the pre-competition RS score, T, T/C ratio, and IL-1β. Note that these factors were positively and significantly correlated at the pre-official competition time, while in a linear regression analysis, IL-1β, T and T/C ratio concentrations explained 43% of the variance in the RS score observed at the same time (adjusted R(2)=0.43, ANOVA P<.05). Our data suggest that the beginning of an agonistic event could trigger emotional responses which correspond to different biological processes instead that of a simulated fight. In particular, IL-1β could be a potential new biological marker of anger and the combined measurement of these factors may be a useful way of understanding athletes' change in relation to their performance.

Retraction Note: Alcohol consumption and hormonal alterations related to muscle hypertrophy: a review

[This retracts the article DOI: 10.1186/1743-7075-11-26.].