(Press-News.org) Moderate exercise could be good for keeping your tendons healthy according to new research from the University of East Anglia funded by Arthritis Research UK.
The onset of tendon disease has previously been associated with exercise. However new research published today in the journal Molecular Cell Research shows that doing moderate exercise could help guard against and treat the painful and often debilitating condition.
The research team showed that moving around decreases a group of enzymes (metalloproteinases) that degrade tendon tissue and increase tendon protein.
Tendon disease is caused by damage to a tendon at cellular level. Symptoms include chronic pain, inflammation, stiffness and reduced function.
Lead researcher Dr Eleanor Jones, from UEA's school of Biological Sciences, said: "The onset of tendon disease has always been associated with exercise, however this association has not been fully understood. We have shown that moderate exercise has a positive effect on tendons."
The team used human Achilles tendon cells which were seeded in rat tail collagen gels. These were then subjected to levels of strain experienced by human tendons to simulate moderate exercise.
"In this study we talk about moderately high exercise and we would consider running to be moderately high. But it's important to remember that our research was carried out in the lab so to confirm this we would need to complete further clinical studies."
The new findings also reveal how genes are regulated by the activation of the protein TGF-β (transforming growth factor beta). By investigating this pathway, researchers hope to find out more about how exercise is associated with tendon disease.
###
'Cyclical strain modulates metalloprotease and matrix gene expression in human tenocytes via activation of TGFβ' by Eleanor R. Jones*, Gavin C. Jones, Kirsten Legerlotz and Graham P. Riley (all UEA) is published in the journal Molecular Cell Research on August 7 2013.
UEA research shows moderate exercise could be good for your tendons
2013-08-07
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Welcome to the new era of University, Inc.
2013-08-07
After years of wariness, universities and industry scientists are forging new partnerships that are reinvigorating academic science departments, preparing students for careers and giving corporations better access to fundamental research. That 21st century alliance is the topic of the cover story in the current edition of Chemical & Engineering News. C&EN is the weekly newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society.
Rick Mullin, C&EN senior editor, points out that collaborations established during the last several years defy earlier ...
Synthetic polymers enable cheap, efficient, durable alkaline fuel cells
2013-08-07
A new cost-effective polymer membrane can decrease the cost of alkaline batteries and fuel cells by allowing the replacement of expensive platinum catalysts without sacrificing important aspects of performance, according to Penn State researchers.
"We have tried to break this paradigm of tradeoffs in materials (by improving) both the stability and the conductivity of this membrane at the same time, and that is what we were able to do with this unique polymeric materials design," said Michael Hickner, associate professor of materials science and engineering.
In solid-state ...
Treadmill training after spinal cord injury promotes recovery when inflammation is controlled
2013-08-07
COLUMBUS, Ohio – New research suggests that treadmill training soon after a spinal cord injury can have long-lasting positive effects on recovery – as long as the training is accompanied by efforts to control inflammation in the lower spinal cord.
The study, in animals, also is among the first to show that spinal cord injuries can create impairments in parts of the cord located many spine segments away from the trauma site.
Researchers observed signs of inflammation in the lumbar region of the spine, at least 10 segments below the mid-back injury, within 24 hours of ...
Endovascular treatment should still be an option for some stroke patients
2013-08-07
Philadelphia, Pa. -- Despite recent discouraging results, endovascular treatment is still a "reasonable" treatment option for selected patients with acute stroke, according to a commentary in the August issue of Neurosurgery, official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.
A special article in the August Neurosurgery suggests that the US supply of neurosurgeons is inadequate to meet the demand, while a new study finds no evidence that obesity causes worse outcomes ...
Scientists create tiny bendy power supply for even smaller portable electronics
2013-08-07
Scientists have created a powerful micro-supercapacitor, just nanometres thick, that could help electronics companies develop mobile phones and cameras that are smaller, lighter and thinner than ever before. The tiny power supply measures less than half a centimetre across and is made from a flexible material, opening up the possibility for wearable electronics.
The research is published in the Royal Society of Chemistry journal Energy & Environmental Science.
A bottleneck in making portable electronic devices like mobile phones even smaller is reducing the size and ...
Internet search engines drove US librarians to redefine themselves
2013-08-07
EUGENE, Ore. -- (Aug. 7, 2013) – Although librarians adopted Internet technology quickly, they initially dismissed search engines, which duplicated tasks they considered integral to their field. Their eventual embrace of the technology required a reinvention of their occupational identity, according to a study by University of Oregon researchers.
The story of the successful transition -- of accommodating a new technology -- into a new identity is a good example for professionals in other fields who have faced or currently face such challenges, says Andrew J. Nelson, a ...
First hundred thousand years of our universe
2013-08-07
Mystery fans know that the best way to solve a mystery is to revisit the scene where it began and look for clues. To understand the mysteries of our universe, scientists are trying to go back as far they can to the Big Bang. A new analysis of cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation data by researchers with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has taken the furthest look back through time yet – 100 years to 300,000 years after the Big Bang - and provided tantalizing new hints of clues as to what might have happened.
"We found that the standard picture ...
Tracking Twitter may enhance monitoring of food safety at restaurants
2013-08-07
A new system could tell you how likely it is for you to become ill if you visit a particular restaurant by 'listening' to the tweets from other restaurant patrons.
The University of Rochester researchers say their system, nEmesis, can help people make more informed decisions, and it also has the potential to complement traditional public health methods for monitoring food safety, such as restaurant inspections. For example, it could enable what they call "adaptive inspections," inspections guided in part by the real-time information that nEmesis provides.
The system combines ...
CD4 count is non-inferior to viral load for treatment switching in adults with HIV
2013-08-07
For adults infected with HIV in Thailand a monitoring strategy based on CD4 count (a type of white blood cell) is non-inferior to the recommended monitoring strategy measuring the amount of HIV virus in a patient's blood, to determine when to switch from first-line to more costly second-line antiretroviral treatment according to a clinical trial published this week in PLOS Medicine.
The study was conducted by an international team of researchers led by Marc Lallemant from Chiang Mai University, Thailand and the Harvard School of Public Health, United States and provides ...
Scientists discover Par-1 as a new component of the Hippo signaling pathway
2013-08-07
In the development of animals, which is closely controlled by diverse pathways, the regulation of organ size has been a long-standing puzzle. How does an organ ascertain its optimum size? What are the molecular mechanisms that stop organ growth at an appropriate point during development or regeneration? Almost a decade ago, the discovery of the Hippo signaling pathway provided an important starting point for answering these questions.
Now, a team of scientists led by Lei Zhang at the Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry & Cell Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, has ...