Biomedical subjects

S Anderssen

Publications and source records attributed to S Anderssen.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1999

The effect of exercise and diet on mental health and quality of life in middle-aged individuals with elevated risk factors for cardiovascular disease.

Mental health and quality of life were assessed before and after a one-year exercise and diet intervention among 219 healthy individuals, aged 41-50 years, with elevated risk factors for cardiovascular disease. The participants were randomized to four groups: diet (n = 55), diet and exercise (n = 67), exercise (n = 54) and no active intervention (n = 43). Quality of life was measured with one eight-item scale and two one-item scales. Mental health was measured by the General Health Questionnaire (30-item version). Depression, anxiety, feelings of competence and self-esteem, coping and social dysfunction were measured using subscales of the General Health Questionnaire. Somatic anxiety was measured by the anxiety subscale of the Symptom Check List-90. Exercise improved the total GHQ scores, perceived competence/self-esteem, and coping as measured by the GHQ subscales. There were no significant effects of diet or exercise on quality of life, depression or anxiety. A high rate of participation in the exercise programme (>70%) was associated with greater improvements in total GHQ scores, anxiety, perceived competence/self-esteem and coping.

Adult↗

PubMed1997

Comparative analyses of LTRs of the ERV-H family of primate-specific retrovirus-like elements isolated from marmoset, African green monkey, and man.

We have isolated 8 different long terminal repeat (LTR) sequences of the ERV-H family of endogenous retrovirus-like elements from human chromosome 18, 9 from African green monkey, and 28 from marmoset. Human ERV-H LTRs have been divided into three types designated Type I, Type Ia, and Type II. Comparative analyses of the 45 isolated LTRs and 60 human ERV-H LTRs enabled a further subdivision into 13 subtypes. Type I elements were widely distributed in all three species. Their average evolutionary age (40 MYr), estimated by a consensus sequence approach, suggests that they first expanded in the genomes at the time New- and Old World monkeys diverged. The occurence of some very old Type I sequences indicate that ERV-H elements may have integrated even before prosimians and primates diverged. Type Ia and - II elements were found in both monkey species. Promoter active Type I and Type Ia LTRs were found while Type II LTRs were inactive. Promoter active Type I LTRs generally contained a functional GC/GT box immediately 3' to the TATA box, providing strong binding of Sp1 family proteins, while the highly promoter active Type Ia element H6 contained synergistically acting Sp1 binding sites located in the U3 enhancer region.

Animals↗

PubMed1997

Exercise and diet interventions improve perceptions of self in middle-aged adults.

The effect of a 1-year exercise and diet intervention program on global self-concept, perceptions of the body, physical competence, exercise mastery, social competence, social comfort, and fitness was examined with 208 healthy individuals (191 males, 17 females) aged 39-49 years (mean age 44.9) with elevated risk factors for cardiovascular disease. The relative utility of the skill development versus the self-enhancement model of the self-concept/behaviour relationship was tested. The participants were randomized into four groups: diet (n = 53), diet and exercise (n = 64), exercise (n = 48) and no active intervention (n = 43). Measurements were made by the Harter adult self perception profile (HASPP) and the self-perception in exercise questionnaire (SPEQ). Two-way ANOVA analyses revealed that exercise participation, with or without diet, enhanced self-perceptions of physical mastery and ability, body perception, fitness and social comfort. The unique contribution of diet indicated enhanced body perception. No effect was found of diet or exercise on global self-concept. Exercise participation had a positive effect on perceptions of the self, and the higher the compliance with the exercise program, the stronger were the effects on the self-perceptions. This supported the skill development model of the self-concept/behaviour relationship. As the pretest self-concept scores did not predict exercise compliance, the self-enhancement model of the self-concept/behaviour relationship was not supported.

Adult↗

PubMed1996

Exercise-induced increase in lipoprotein (a).

In the Oslo Diet and Exercise Study (ODES) 219 healthy middle-aged physically inactive persons with moderately deranged risk factor levels (increased bodyweight, diastolic blood pressure, serum cholesterol, triglycerides, decreased HDL-cholesterol) were randomized to 4 intervention groups: dietary intervention, exercise, diet + exercise and control. The purpose of the study was to test if these interventions maintained for a year, isolated or in combination, would change coronary risk factor levels as compared to control. One of the risk factors included was lipoprotein (a) (Lp(a)). The hypothesis to be tested was if physical exercise would be associated with increased levels of Lp(a) as a result of intervention. Those who exercised increased their Lp(a) levels with 15.4 (S.E. = 8.0) mg/l as compared to no exercise (P < 0.05). Also, dietary intervention tended to increase Lp(a), but the increase did not reach statistical significance. There was no detectable interaction on the effect on Lp(a) of the two intervention modalities. A dose-response relationship was found between change in the exercise-specific variables heart rate and peak oxygen uptake, and Lp(a)-change and this dose-response was most pronounced in the exercise group. Change in Lp(a) was associated to change in several lifestyle related variables such as alcohol intake and waist circumference, pointing to the possibility that Lp(a), at least in some subpopulations, is more amenable to change through lifestyle alterations than reported so far.

Adult↗

PubMed1996

The promoter activity of long terminal repeats of the HERV-H family of human retrovirus-like elements is critically dependent on Sp1 family proteins interacting with a GC/GT box located immediately 3' to the TATA box.

The HERV-H family of endogenous retrovirus-like elements is widely distributed in the human genome, with about 1,000 full-length elements and a similar number of solitary long terminal repeats (LTRs). HERV-H LTRs have been shown to direct the transcription of both HERV-H-encoded and adjacent cellular genes. Transcripts of HERV-H elements are especially abundant in placenta, teratocarcinoma cell lines, and cell lines derived from testicular and lung tumors. Here we report that only a subset of HERV-H LTRs display promoter activity in human cell lines and that these LTRs are characterized by the presence of a GC/GT box immediately downstream of the TATA box. This GC/GT box is required for promoter activity, while, surprisingly, the TATA box is dispensable. The ubiquitously expressed transcription factors Sp1 and Sp3 bound to this GC/GT box and stimulated transcription from the promoter-active LTRs in the teratocarcinoma cell line NTera2-D1. However, in HeLa and Drosophila SL-2 cells, Sp1 acted as a transcriptional activator of the LTRs, while Sp3 acted as a repressor of Sp1-mediated transcriptional activation. Cotransfection studies also revealed that the tissue-specific Sp1-related protein BTEB bound to this GC/GT box and stimulated transcription from the LTR promoters in NTera2-D1 cells. These results show that members of the Sp1 protein family are crucial determinants for transcriptional activation of HERV-H LTR promoters and suggest that these proteins may also be involved in determining the tissue-specific expression pattern of HERV-H elements.

Animals↗

PubMed1995

Diet and exercise intervention have favourable effects on blood pressure in mild hypertensives: the Oslo Diet and Exercise Study (ODES).

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of 1-year diet intervention, exercise intervention and both combined on blood pressure (BP) in normotensives and mild hypertensives. Two hundred and nineteen sedentary middle aged men and women with slightly deranged coronary heart disease (CHD) risk factors were randomised to a control, a diet, an exercise and a diet + exercise group. Based on baseline diastolic BP, participants were divided into tertiles, giving baseline average BP of 141.4/96.7 in tertile 1, 130.7/87.6 in tertile 2 and 121.9/79.0 in tertile 3. The 1-year net-difference in BP between the intervention groups and the control group decreased across the tertiles; in tertile 1 being -11.2/-6.7 (p < 0.05), -11.3/-6.7 (p < 0.05 for systolic BP only) and -7.0/-5.1 (NS) in the combined, diet and exercise group respectively. Triglycerides, HDL cholesterol, and insulin variables were significantly and favourably changed, the changes being most marked in the combined group. The results show that diet and diet + exercise are about equally effective in reducing BP, and the effects may be dependent on the baseline level. Within the upper tertile of baseline BP, the decline in BP in the combined intervention and the diet group are almost comparable to those obtained with drug treatment. In addition, other important CHD risk factors were all changed in a beneficial direction.

Adult↗