OBJECTIVETo evaluate the stress level during parachuting training by salivary biomarker and to study the dynamic characteristics.

METHODSTwenty recruits of military parachuting training completed 8 trainings in a month. The saliva samples were collected at 2 h and 1h before boarding and at 0.5 h after landing on the 1st, 4th and 7th trainings. The levels of cortisol, chromogranin A and α-amylase in saliva samples were detected.

RESULTSThe concentrations of cortisol, chromogranin A and activity of α-amylase increased significantly from pre-boarding to landing during 3 trainings. The concentrations of cortisol, chromogranin A and activity of α-amylase at 2 h before boarding and at 0.5 h after landing decreased significantly with the training times. However, the changes of 3 biomarkers at 1 h before boarding among 3 trainings were not significant.

CONCLUSIONThe levels of stress increased significantly for 20 recruits from pre-boarding to landing during parachuting trainings. The stress levels of 20 recruits before boarding and after landing significantly decreased with parachuting training times.

Aviation ; Biomarkers ; analysis ; Chromogranin A ; analysis ; Humans ; Hydrocortisone ; analysis ; Male ; Saliva ; chemistry ; Stress, Psychological ; Young Adult ; alpha-Amylases ; analysis

Glucocorticoids/urine* ; Humans ; Hydrocortisone ; Marathon Running ; Saliva/chemistry* ; alpha-Amylases/analysis*

OBJECTIVETo explore the relationship between nurse occupational stress and salivary alpha- amylase (SAA).

METHODSEvaluation of occupational stress was conducted in 131 nurses. The activity of SAA was determined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

RESULTSThe activity of SAA in nurses varied with age and working years. The baseline, work period, recovery, average activities of >35 age group were less than those of ≤ 30 age group; work period, recovery, average activities of ≤ 10 years group were higher than other two groups; there was no statistical difference between SAA vitalities of different degree groups (P>0.05). In nurses with high scores for job demands, the activity of SAA in working period was significantly higher than that in nurses with low scores (P < 0.05). The baseline SAA activity in nurses with high scores for role conflict and ambiguity was significantly higherthan thatin nurses with low scores (P < 0.05). The baseline SAAactivity was positively correlated with workload, role conflict, and role ambiguity (P < 0.05). The activity of SAA in working period was negatively correlated with task control, decision control, and technology utilization (P < 0.05), and was positively correlated with quantitative load, load change, work monotony, and workload (P < 0.05). The activity of SAA in recovery period was negatively correlated with task control, decision control, resource control, and technology utilization (P < 0.01). The average activity of SAA was negatively correlated with task control, decision control, resource control, technology utilization, opportunity for participating in decision-making, and promotion (P < 0.05), and was positively correlated with quantitative load, load change, workload, and role ambiguity (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe occupational stress in 131 nurses is correlated with the activity of SAA, which can be used as an objective biomarker for identification and evaluation of occupational stress.

Biomarkers ; Humans ; Nurses ; psychology ; Occupational Diseases ; epidemiology ; Salivary alpha-Amylases ; analysis ; Stress, Psychological ; diagnosis ; epidemiology ; Work ; Workload

OBJECTIVEThe present study aimed to test whether exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF) emitted by mobile phone base stations may have effects on salivary alpha-amylase, immunoglobulin A (IgA), and cortisol levels.

METHODSFifty seven participants were randomly allocated to one of three different experimental scenarios (22 participants to scenario 1, 26 to scenario 2, and 9 to scenario 3). Each participant went through five 50-minute exposure sessions. The main RF-EMF source was a GSM-900-MHz antenna located at the outer wall of the building. In scenarios 1 and 2, the first, third, and fifth sessions were "low" (median power flux density 5.2 microW/m(2)) exposure. The second session was "high" (2126.8 microW/m(2)), and the fourth session was "medium" (153.6 microW/m(2)) in scenario 1, and vice versa in scenario 2. Scenario 3 had four "low" exposure conditions, followed by a "high" exposure condition. Biomedical parameters were collected by saliva samples three times a session. Exposure levels were created by shielding curtains.

RESULTSIn scenario 3 from session 4 to session 5 (from "low" to "high" exposure), an increase of cortisol was detected, while in scenarios 1 and 2, a higher concentration of alpha-amylase related to the baseline was identified as compared to that in scenario 3. IgA concentration was not significantly related to the exposure.

CONCLUSIONSRF-EMF in considerably lower field densities than ICNIRP-guidelines may influence certain psychobiological stress markers.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Cell Phone ; Female ; Humans ; Hydrocortisone ; analysis ; Immunoglobulin A ; analysis ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Saliva ; chemistry ; Young Adult ; alpha-Amylases ; analysis

A total of 189 male subjects with normal and abnormal semen quality were divided into seven groups according to WHO semen analysis criteria : Group I was composed of 62 subjects with normal semen parameters. They were subdivided into 4 sub-groups based on the sperm motility, such as subgroups I-1 with sperm motility between 41-50%, I -2 with motility between 51-60%, I -3 with motility 61-70%, and I-4 with motility over 71%. Group II was composed of 29 subjects with oligozoospermia of less than 20 X 106/ml of sperm density. Group III was composed of 9 subjects with asthenozoospermia of less than 40% of sperm motility. Group IV was composed of 13 subjects with teratozoospermia of more than 40% of abnormal morphology. Group V was composed of 31 subjects with testicular secretory azoospermia. Group VI was composed of 39 subjects with post-testicular obstructive azoospermia. Group VII was composed of 6 subjects with successful vasovasostomy and epididymovasostomy without pregnancy. Seminal plasma was separated from spermatozoa by centrifugation of fresh semen. The contents of protein and fructose and enzyme activities of hyaluronidase, a-amylase, b-glucuronidase, arylsulfatase, azocoll proteinase and acrosin were measured in each seminal plasma of the study groups. Enzyme activities and fructose content were compared based on their sperm motility and abnormalities of spermatozoa. The protein contents of seminal plasma of each group were nearly same. The fructose contents of both sub-group I-4 and group III were found to be very low compared with normal sperm group. Hyaluronidase originated from sperm acrosome and other accessory sex glands. It is related to increasing sperm motility by lowering seminal viscosity. The hyaluronidase activities of the sub-group I -4 and Group VII showed less than those of other groups. Alpha-amylase which cleaved long chain of carbohydrate was measured in each seminal plasma of the study groups. It did not affect lowering the viscosity of seminal plasma and sperm motility. Beta-glucuronidase originated from sperm acrosome and other accessory sex glands. It is related to increasing sperm motility by lowering seminal viscosity. The activity of b-glucuronidase was lowest in the sub-group I -4 and highest in the sub-group I-2 and Group III. Arylsulfatase activity was nearly same in all study groups. Azocoll proteinase activities, a non-specific neutral proteolytic enzyme, were negligible throughout the groups investigated in this study. This may indicate that lowering the viscosity of seminal plasma did not related to the proteolytic process. Acrosin was not contained in the seminal plasma. Disintegration of mucopolysaccharide is somewhat known to influence lowering. the viscosity in the seminal plasma. These findings suggest that sperm motility is affected by the enzyme activities and viscosity in the seminal plasma.
Acrosin ; Acrosome ; alpha-Amylases ; Asthenozoospermia ; Azoospermia ; Centrifugation ; Fructose ; Glucuronidase ; Humans ; Hyaluronoglucosaminidase ; Male ; Oligospermia ; Pregnancy ; Semen Analysis ; Semen* ; Sperm Motility* ; Spermatozoa* ; Vasovasostomy ; Viscosity

The alpha-amylase inhibitors have been proposed as possibly important weapons against pests. Thus, it is of importance to identify the specificity of them. Based on the EST data of alpha-amylase inhibitor genes that were retrieved from NCBI, BBSRC and GrainGenes, two PCR primers were designed. The coding sequences of 24 kD dimeric alpha-amylase inhibitors with resistance to insects in 17 wheat and Aegilops accessions were investigated and 17 new genes were obtained. Only one 24 kD alpha-amylase inhibitor gene was found in each diploid wheat and Aegilops accession, whereas 8 genes were characterized from one hexaploid wheat variety, indicating that the 24 kD alpha-amylase inhibitors in hexaploid wheat were encoded by multi-gene. The deduced amino acid sequences of 2 genes from common wheat and 1 gene from Ae. tauschii were the same as the sequence of the inhibitor 0.19, and the deduced amino acid sequence of another gene from common wheat was similar to the inhibitor 0.53 with only one amino acid difference. The amino acid sequences of 24 kD dimeric alpha-amylase inhibitors shared very high coherence (91.2%). These results suggest that the alpha-amylase inhibitors in 24 kD family were derived from common ancestral genes by phylogenesis.
Amino Acid Sequence ; Animals ; Enzyme Inhibitors ; metabolism ; Insecta ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Plant Proteins ; genetics ; Poaceae ; genetics ; Sequence Analysis ; Triticum ; enzymology ; genetics ; alpha-Amylases ; antagonists & inhibitors ; genetics

BACKGROUND: Wood is a valuable material for interiors, and the psychophysiological relaxation effects of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from wood chips and essential oils have been reported. However, few studies have identified the odors in full-scale wooden environment, and also, differences in gender have not been clarified. In this study, we aimed to confirm the effects of VOCs emitted from interior wood walls in both human male and female participants. METHODS: We used Japanese cedar timber and analyzed VOCs in the experimental rooms with and without Japanese cedar timber by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The physiological effects were measured using neuroendocrinological and immunological parameters in saliva. A questionnaire was used to evaluate the subjective responses to each odor in the experimental rooms. RESULTS: The main compound emitted from Japanese cedar timber was δ-cadinene, and the total volume of VOCs in the wood condition (presence of VOCs emitted from Japanese cedar) was 282.4 (μg/m). Significant differences between genders in salivary parameters were shown that there were decreases of α-amylase in wood condition and increases of cortisol in the control (absence of VOCs) condition in female participants compared to male participants. The results demonstrated that VOCs in the experimental room with Japanese cedar timber tend to suppress the activation of the sympathetic nervous activity and non-VOCs of Japanese cedar in the control room increase cortisol in female participants. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that an indoor environment with wood interior materials has the potential to be useful for health management, especially women's health.
Adult ; Air Pollutants ; analysis ; Air Pollution, Indoor ; adverse effects ; analysis ; Cryptomeria ; chemistry ; Female ; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry ; Humans ; Hydrocortisone ; metabolism ; Male ; Saliva ; chemistry ; Salivary alpha-Amylases ; metabolism ; Sesquiterpenes ; analysis ; Sex Factors ; Volatile Organic Compounds ; adverse effects ; Wood ; chemistry ; Young Adult

An alpha-amylase inhibitor (alpha-AI) was isolated from white kidney beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L) by ethanol fractional precipitation, ion exchange chromatography and gel filtration column chromatography. It was a homogeneity glycoprotein demonstrated by SDS-PAGE and gel filtration on CL-6B. The glycoprotein contained 88.2% protein and was rich in aspartic acid, glutamic acid, leucine, threonine and serine. The carbohydrate moiety was consisted of Man, Glc, Gal and Xyl in a mole ratio of 2.42: 1.50: 1.52: 1.00. The glycan and the core protein backbone was connected by O-linkage as determined by beta-elimination reaction. The continuous oral administration of the alpha-AI (150 mg x kg(-1) x d(-1)) for 7 days can lower fasting blood glucose and 300 mg x kg(-1) x d(-1) alpha-AI for 7 days can improve the sugar tolerance on alloxan-dependent diabetic model rats. The result showed the alpha-AI obtained from white kidney beans had good hypoglycemic effect on alloxan induced diabetic rats and may have high potential pharmaceutical value as a regulative digestive-starch degradation in patients suffering from diabetes.
Alloxan ; Amino Acids ; analysis ; Animals ; Blood Glucose ; metabolism ; Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental ; blood ; chemically induced ; Female ; Glycoproteins ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Molecular Weight ; Monosaccharides ; analysis ; Phaseolus ; chemistry ; Plant Lectins ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Vegetable Proteins ; analysis ; alpha-Amylases ; antagonists & inhibitors

Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a major cause of liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Combination therapy of pegylated interferon-alpha (PEG-IFN-α) and ribavirin (RBV) is a current standard treatment for chronic HCV infection in Korea, which has considerable adverse effects. Acute pancreatitis is a rare complication of PEG-IFN-α administration. We report a case of a 62-year-old female who experienced acute pancreatitis after 4 weeks of PEG-IFN-α-2a and RBV combination therapy for chronic HCV infection. The main cause of the acute pancreatitis in this case was probably PEG-IFN-α rather than RBV for several reasons. A few cases have been reported in which acute pancreatitis occurred during treatment with PEG-IFN-α-2b. This is the first report of acute pancreatitis associated with PEG-IFN-α-2a in Korea.
Amylases/analysis ; Antiviral Agents/adverse effects/*therapeutic use ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Female ; Hepatitis C, Chronic/diagnostic imaging/*drug therapy ; Humans ; Interferon-alpha/adverse effects/*therapeutic use ; Lipase/analysis ; Middle Aged ; Pancreatitis/*etiology ; Polyethylene Glycols/adverse effects/*therapeutic use ; Recombinant Proteins/adverse effects/therapeutic use ; Republic of Korea ; Ribavirin/therapeutic use ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the therapeutic effects of recombinant Exendin-4 and double-stranded adeno-associated virus (Exendin-4/dsAAV) on SD rats with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) through injecting it into submandibular gland (SG).
 METHODS: The Exendin-4/dsAAV was injected into submandibular gland of diabetic rat. The insulin and α-amylase were detected by real-time PCR at the 2nd, 4th and 8th weeks. The immunohistochemisty was used to detect the insulin contents in SG at the 8th week. The concentration of blood glucose and levels of insulin secretion were detected after pancreatectomy.
 RESULTS: The SG gland was bigger in Exendin-4/dsAAV group than that in the control group, but the changes in α-amylase were not significant. The Exendin-4 and insulin gene expression was increased in the Exendin-4/dsAAV group (P<0.05). The Exendin-4 and insulin were positive in the SG. The blood glucose was lower and insulin concentration was higher in the Exendin-4/dsAAV group than those in the control group after pancreatectomy (P<0.05), and the insulin content was also increased in the dsAAV groups.
 CONCLUSION Continuous expression of Exendin-4 in SG may improve glucose control and insulin secretion in T2DM rats through inducing expression of insulin.
Animals ; Blood Glucose ; analysis ; Dependovirus ; Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental ; therapy ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 ; therapy ; Exenatide ; Genetic Therapy ; Injections ; Insulin ; chemistry ; Peptides ; genetics ; therapeutic use ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Recombinant Proteins ; genetics ; therapeutic use ; Submandibular Gland ; chemistry ; Venoms ; genetics ; therapeutic use ; alpha-Amylases ; chemistry