Rugby union is a physically intense intermittent sport coupled with high force collisions. Each position within a team has specific requirements which are typically based on speed, size and skill. The aim of this study was to investigate the contemporary demands of each position and whether they can explain changes in psychophysiological stress. Urine and saliva samples were collected before and after five selected Super 15 rugby games from 37 players. Total neopterin (NP), cortisol and immunoglobulin A were analysed by SCX‐high performance liquid chromatography and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. Global positioning system software provided distance data, while live video analysis provided impact data. All contemporary demands were analysed as events per minute of game time. Forwards were involved in more total impacts, tackles and rucks compared to backs (p< 0.001), while backs were involved in more ball carries and covered more total distance and distance at high speed per minute of game time (p< 0.01). Loose forwards, inside and outside backs covered significantly more distance at high speed (p< 0.01), while there was a negligible difference with number of impacts between the forward positions. There was also minimal difference between positions in the percentage change in NP, cortisol and sIgA. The results indicate distance covered and number of impacts per minute of game time is position‐dependent whereas changes in psychophysiological stress are independent. This information can be used to adapt training and recovery interventions to better prepare each position based on the physical requirements of the game.

Rugby union is a sport governed by the impacts of high force and high frequency. Analysis of physiological markers following a game can provide an understanding of the physiological response of an individual and the time course changes in response to recovery. Urine and saliva were collected from 11 elite amateur rugby players 24 h before, immediately after, and at 17, 25, 38, 62 and 86 h post-game. Myoglobin, salivary immunoglobulin A and cortisol were analysed by ELISA, whereas neopterin and total neopterin were analysed by high-performance liquid chromatography. There was a significant post-game increase of all four markers. The increases were cortisol 4-fold, myoglobin 2.85-fold, neopterin 1.75-fold and total neopterin 2.3-fold when corrected with specific gravity. All significant changes occurred post-game only, with markers returning to and remaining at baseline within 17 h. The intensity of the game caused significant changes in key physiological markers of stress. They provide an understanding of the stress experienced during a single game of rugby and the time course changes associated with player recovery. Neopterin provides a new marker of detecting an acute inflammatory response in physical exercise, while specific gravity should be considered for urine volume correction post-exercise.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is caused by the loss of dystrophin. Severe and ultimately lethal, DMD progresses relatively slowly in that patients become wheelchair bound only around age twelve with a survival expectancy reaching the third decade of life. The mildly-affected mdx mouse model of DMD, and transgenic DysΔMTB-mdx and Fiona-mdx mice expressing dystrophin or utrophin, respectively, were exposed to either mild (scruffing) or severe (subordination stress) stress paradigms and profiled for their behavioral and physiological responses. A subgroup of mdx mice exposed to subordination stress were pretreated with the beta-blocker metoprolol. Subordination stress caused lethality in ∼30% of mdx mice within 24 h and ∼70% lethality within 48 h, which was not rescued by metoprolol. Lethality was associated with heart damage, waddling gait and hypo-locomotion, as well as marked up-regulation of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenocortical axis. A novel cardiovascular phenotype emerged in mdx mice, in that scruffing caused a transient drop in arterial pressure, while subordination stress caused severe and sustained hypotension with concurrent tachycardia. Transgenic expression of dystrophin or utrophin in skeletal muscle protected mdx mice from scruffing and social stress-induced responses including mortality. We have identified a robust new stress phenotype in the otherwise mildly affected mdx mouse that suggests relatively benign handling may impact the outcome of behavioural experiments, but which should also expedite the knowledge-based therapy development for DMD. Greg Marzolf Jr. Foundation, Summer's Wish Fund, NIAMS, Muscular Dystrophy Association, University of Minnesota and John and Cheri Gunvalson Trust.

Mutation to the dystrophin gene causes skeletal muscle weakness in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) or Becker muscular dystrophy (BMD). Deliberation continues regarding implications of prescribing exercise for these patients. The purpose of this study was to determine if isometric resistance exercise (~10 tetanic contractions/session) improves skeletal muscle strength and histopathology in the mdx mouse model of DMD. Three isometric training sessions increased in vivo isometric torque (22%) and contractility rates (54%) of anterior crural muscles of mdx mice. Mice expressing a BMD-causing missense mutated dystrophin on the mdx background showed comparable increases in torque (22%) while wildtype mice showed less change (11%). Increases in muscle function occurred within 1 h and peaked 3 d post-training; however the adaptation was lost after 7 days unless re-trained. Six isometric training sessions over 4 wk caused increased isometric torque (28%) and contractility rates (22 - 28%), reduced fibrosis, as well as greater uniformity of fiber cross-sectional areas, fewer embryonic myosin heavy chain-positive fibers and more satellite cells in tibialis anterior muscle compared to the contralateral untrained muscle. Ex vivo functional analysis of isolated extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscle from the trained hindlimb revealed greater absolute isometric force, lower passive stiffness and a lower susceptibility to eccentric contraction-induced force loss compared to untrained EDL muscle. Overall, these data support the concept that exercise training in the form of isometric tetanic contractions can improve contractile function of dystrophin-deficient muscle indicating a potential role for enhancing muscle strength in patients with DMD and BMD.

Body building is a sport where ultrastructual damage to muscle fibres aids the development of dense muscle layers. Using a new strong cation exchange (SCX) based chromatography technique to measure neopterin and 7,8-dihydroneopterin, we investigated whether this muscle damage caused increased levels of inflammation. Urine samples were collected over eight consecutive mornings from 10 natural competitive body builders. Samples were analysed using SCX high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with urine volume corrected for creatinine and specific gravity (SG). The majority of subjects showed large changes in both neopterin and total neopterin (7,8-dihydroneopterin+neopterin) levels, though the mean data for the group showed no significant change over the week. There was no evidence of the high intensity resistance training causing an accumulation of inflammation as the values for all the body builders returned to close to the starting values after 2 days rest. The SCX analysis had an intra-specific viability of 3.04% and the inter-specific viability was 5.42%. Urine volume correction with SG was found to give the same values as using creatinine. Creatinine and specific gravity are both reliable methods for correcting for urine volume while SCX HPLC provides a new means of measuring urinary neopterin and total neopterin.