So the first full day of IUPS2013 is done and I am full of lovely Chinese food (Tin Tin just out the back of the ICC across the canal is very nice) and also very thankful of the air con in my hotel room (it's very warm and I'm from the cold lands of north east Scotland). Oh, and the science has been good too. Here are a couple of highlights from my day.
The FEPS (Federation of European Physiological Sciences) prize lecture was from Juleen Zierath, in which she told us about her work on the health promoting effects of exercise in diabetes. Rapid changes can be seen in mRNA levels of exercised skeletal muscle leading to adaptations in metabolism. These changes are different depending on the type of exercise: aerobic or resistance. Even after only 7 days increased exercise a study group of men showed improved glucose tolerance. One particular important protein she spoke on was DGK delta. Removal of this protein in mice, through knock-out, caused them to become "pre-diabetic" and increasing its levels improved glucose lowering and prevented insulin resistance. Transferring this to humans, increasing walking to 4 hours per day increased levels of this protein. The message here is clear, and one many of us should listen to, exercise is good for you!
My second symposia of the day kicked off with my other highlight, Markus Amann from the University of Utah talking about his work on the role of muscle afferents in the ventilatory and circulatory response to endurance exercise. Afferents provide the sensory link between muscle and the CNS, but their role in exercise has been debated. Markus' work elucidates their role using a range of whole body endurance exercise studies in humans. The afferents are blocked using u-opoid antagonists (they check there are no central effects in each subject) and various parameters are measured during differing exercises. Among other changes he showed that afferent block causes a 20-50% decrease in ventilation response, 15% decrease in leg blood flow and increased fatigue. These changes suggest the feedback provided by afferents plays an important role in the ability of skeletal muscle to work optimally during exercise.
