Aging is accompanied by physiological changes affecting body composition and functionality, including accumulation of fat mass at the expense of muscle mass, with effects upon morbidity and quality of life. The gut microbiome has recently emerged as a key environmental modifier of human health that can modulate healthy aging and possibly longevity. However, its associations with adiposity in old age are still poorly understood. Here we profiled the gut microbiota in a well-characterized cohort of 201 Italian elderly subjects from the NU-AGE study, by 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing. We then tested for association with body composition from dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), with a focus on visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissue. Dietary patterns, serum metabolome and other health-related parameters were also assessed. This study identified distinct compositional structures of the elderly gut microbiota associated with DXA parameters, diet, metabolic profiles and cardio-metabolic risk factors.

To investigate the time course of recovery from neuromuscular fatigue and some biochemical changes between two female soccer matches separated by an active or passive recovery regime. Countermovement jump (CMJ), sprint performance, maximal isokinetic knee flexion and extension, creatine kinase (CK), urea, uric acid, and perceived muscle soreness were measured in 17 elite female soccer players before, immediately after, 5, 21, 45, 51, and 69 h after a first match, and immediately after a second match. Eight players performed active recovery (submaximal cycling at 60% of HRpeak and low-intensity resistance training at < 50% 1RM) 22 and 46 h after the first match. In response to the first match, a significant decrease in sprint performance (-3.0 +/- 0.5%), CMJ (-4.4 +/- 0.8%), peak torque in knee extension (-7.1 +/- 1.9%) and flexion (-9.4 +/- 1.8%), and an increase in CK (+ 152 +/- 28%), urea (15 +/- 2), uric acid (+ 11 +/- 2%), and muscle soreness occurred. Sprint ability was first to return to baseline (5 h) followed by urea and uric acid (21 h), isokinetic knee extension (27 h) and flexion (51 h), CK, and muscle soreness (69 h), whereas CMJ was still reduced at the beginning of the second match. There were no significant differences in the recovery pattern between the active and passive recovery groups. The magnitude of the neuromuscular and biochemical changes after the second match was similar to that observed after the first match. The present study reveals differences in the recovery pattern of the various neuromuscular and biochemical parameters in response to a female soccer match. The active recovery had no effects on the recovery pattern of the four neuromuscular and three biochemical parameters.

The aim of this study was to investigate the modulation of satellite cell content and myonuclear number following 30 and 90 days of resistance training and 3, 10, 30, 60 and 90 days of detraining. Muscle biopsies were obtained from the vastus lateralis of 15 young men (mean age: 24 years; range: 20–32 years). Satellite cells and myonuclei were studied on muscle cross‐sections stained with a monoclonal antibody against CD56 and counterstained with Mayer's haematoxylin. Cell cycle markers CyclinD1 and p21 mRNA levels were determined by Northern blotting. Satellite cell content increased by 19% (P= 0.02) at 30 days and by 31% (P= 0.0003) at 90 days of training. Compared to pre‐training values, the number of satellite cells remained significantly elevated at 3, 10 and 60 days but not at 90 days of detraining. The two cell cycle markers CyclinD1 and p21 mRNA significantly increased at 30 days of training. At 90 days of training, p21 was still elevated whereas CyclinD1 returned to pre‐training values. In the detraining period, p21 and CyclinD1 levels were similar to the pre‐training values. There were no significant alterations in the number of myonuclei following the training and the detraining periods. The fibre area controlled by each myonucleus gradually increased throughout the training period and returned to pre‐training values during detraining. In conclusion, these results demonstrate the high plasticity of satellite cells in response to training and detraining stimuli and clearly show that moderate changes in the size of skeletal muscle fibres can be achieved without the addition of new myonuclei.