Endothelial dysfunction is crucial factor to the hypertension occurrence, and controversy remains regarding the effect of exercise on improving endothelial function in hypertensive patients. The authors used meta‐analysis to evaluate the intervention effect of exercise on endothelial function in hypertensive patients and to investigate exercise protocols that may have a greater intervention effect. A total of 37 studies and a total of 2801 participants were included. The results were as follows: endogenous nitric oxide (NO)[SMD = .89, 95% CI (.48, 1.30), p < .0001], endothelin‐1 (ET‐1): [SMD = −.94, 95% CI (−1.15, −.73), p <. 0001], flow‐mediated dilation (FMD) [SMD = −.57, 95% CI (.36, .79), p < .000001]. In subgroup analysis, high‐intensity aerobic exercise, with a single exercise duration of 35–50 min, 3–4 times/week for a total of 10–12 weeks, had the largest amount of intervention effect on NO, and moderate‐intensity resistance exercise, with a single exercise duration of ≥60 min, 6 times/week for a total of 15–18 weeks, had the largest amount of intervention effect on ET‐1. In conclusion, exercise can improve NO levels, FDM levels, and reduce ET‐1 secretion of hypertension patients, thereby improve their endothelial function. The ideal intervention effect of improving NO level was more likely to be obtained by taking the exercise prescription of high‐intensity aerobic exercise with a single exercise duration of 35–50 min, 3–4 times/week for 10–12 weeks; the ideal intervention effect of improving ET‐1 was more likely to be obtained by taking the exercise prescription of oderate ‐intensity resistance exercise with a single exercise duration of ≥60 min, 6 times/week for 15–18 weeks.

Background: Tai Chi exercise has been reported to enhance physical and mental health in the older adults; however, the mechanism remains elusive. Trial design: We recruited 289 older adults practicing Tai Chi for over 3 years, together with 277 age-matched older and 102 young adults as controls. 168 Tai Chi practitioners were successfully matched to 168 older controls aged 60–69 based on a propensity score for statistics. Methods: Cerebrovascular function was evaluated by measuring the hemodynamics of the carotid artery. Spearman correlation was performed to validate the age-associated physiological parameters. Results: Cerebrovascular function in older adults significantly degenerated compared with the young, and was substantially correlated with age. Compared with the older control group, Tai Chi practitioners showed significant improvements in CVHI (cerebral vascular hemodynamics indices) Score (P = 0.002), mean blood flow velocity (P = 0.014), maximal blood flow velocity (P = 0.04) and minimum blood flow velocity (P < 0.001), whereas the age-related increases in pulse wave velocity (P = 0.022), characteristic impedance (P = 0.021) and peripheral resistance (P = 0.044) were lowered. Conclusions: These data demonstrate a rejuvenation role of Tai Chi in improving the age-related decline of the cerebrovascular function. Trial registration: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR1900025187)

Background: Obesity in children has become one of the key concerns of the World Health Organization, and the incidence of related non-communicable diseases is also rising. This study evaluates the effect of family sports participation on the treatment and prevention of obesity in children aged 0–14 years by systematic analysis. Method: A literature review from 2000 to 2020 was conducted. According to PRISMA-IPD (Preferred Reporting Items for MetaAnalyses of individual participant data) guidelines. The two researchers independently assessed the risk and bias of the articles, obtained a comprehensive, high-quality result, and extracted the data based on the Cochrane intervention system review manual. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were selected from the searches that used family sports interventions or family sports combined with dietary adjustments and behavioral habits change. Only studies targeting overweight or obese children aged 0–14 years were included. Results: The search resulted in a total of 16 studies. Across all 16 studies, there were a total of 1680 participants in the experimental groups and 1701 participants in the control groups. The results are as follows: body mass index (BMI) (SMD-RE = − 4.10, 95% CI (− 0.84 to 0.02), Z = 1.88, p = 0.06); Body weight (SMD-RE = − 0.77, 95% CI (− 1.53 to − 0.01), Z = 2.00, p = 0.05); Waist circumference (SMD-RE = − 0.45, 95% CI (− 1.36 to 0.47), Z = 0.96, p = 0.34); and Body fat rate (SMD-FE = − 0.06, 95% CI (− 0.22 to 0.11), Z = 0.69, p = 0.49). Hence, through family sports intervention among obese children, juvenile and obese body composition—BMI, body weight, waist circumference, and body fat rate—are all reduced. But only body weight was statistically significant. Conclusions: Compared with the samples without family sports, the weight of obese children participating in family sports decreased, but there were no significant differences in other relevant physical indicators. Follow-up research should examine large-scale clinical trials with family sports as a single factor intervention, which are needed to provide stronger evidence of the intervention effect. However, family activities can help obese children grow and develop by improving their exercise capacity, enhancing their lifestyles, and facilitating communication and relationships with their parents. In the future, long-term sports training plans for children with obesity should be implemented.

Dynamic orchestration of metabolic pathways during continuous fasting remains unclear. We investigated the physiological effects of Bigu-style fasting and underlying metabolic reprogramming in healthy adults. We conducted a 5-d Bigu trial in 43 healthy subjects [age 23.2 ± 2.4 y; BMI (in kg/m²) 22.52 ± 1.79]. Physiological indicators and body composition were monitored daily during fasting day 1 (F1D) to F5D and after 10-d refeeding postfasting (R10D) and R30D. Blood samples were collected in the morning. Risk factors associated with inflammation, aging, cardiovascular diseases, malnutrition, and organ dysfunction were evaluated by biochemical measurements. Untargeted plasma metabolomics and gut microbial profiling were performed using plasma and fecal samples. Data were analyzed by repeated measures ANOVA with Greenhouse–Geisser correction. Correlation analyses for metabolite modules and taurine were analyzed by Spearman's rank and Pearson tests, respectively. Heart rate was accelerated throughout the fasting period. Risk factors associated with inflammation and cardiovascular diseases were significantly lowered during or after Bigu (P < 0.05). Body composition measurement detected an overconsumption of fat starting from F3D till 1 mo after refeeding. Metabolomics unveiled a coupling between gluconeogenesis and cholesterol biosynthesis beyond F3D. Plasma taurine significantly increased at F3D by 31%–46% followed by a reduction to basal level at F5D (P < 0.001), a pattern inversely correlated with changes in glucose and de novo synthesized cholesterol (r = −0.407 and −0.296, respectively; P < 0.001). Gut microbial profiling showed an enrichment of taurine-utilizing bacteria at F5D, which was completely recovered at R10D. Our data demonstrate that 5-d Bigu is potentially beneficial to health in young adults. A starvation threshold of 3-d fasting is necessary for maintaining glucose and cholesterol homeostasis via a taurine–microbiota regulatory loop. Our findings provide novel insights into the physiological and metabolic responses of the human body to continuous Bigu-style fasting. This trial was registered at http://www.chictr.org.cn as ChiCTR1900022917.

This study aimed to help healthy adults achieve self-screening by analyzing the quantitative relationship between body composition index measurements (BMI, waist-to-hip ratio, etc.) and dyslipidemia and establishing a logical risk prediction model for dyslipidemia. We performed a cross-sectional study and collected relevant data from 1115 adults between November 2019 and August 2020. The least absolute shrinkage selection operator (LASSO) regression analysis was performed to select the best predictor variables, and multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to construct the prediction model. In this study, a graphic tool including 10 predictor variables (a "nomogram," see the precise definition in the text) was constructed to predict the risk of dyslipidemia in healthy adults. A calibration diagram, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, and decision curve analysis (DCA) were used to verify the model’s utility. Our proposed dyslipidemia nomogram showed good discriminative ability with a C-index of 0.737 (95% confidence interval, 0.70–0.773). In the internal validation, a high C-index value of 0.718 was achieved. DCA showed a dyslipidemia threshold probability of 2–45%, proving the value of the nomogram for clinical application for dyslipidemia. This nomogram may be useful for self-screening the risk of dyslipidemia in healthy adults.