Introduction: Right to left asymmetries in body composition has been examined across many sports, suggesting possible implications for lower back pain (LBP) and decreased level performance. However, we are not aware of any study that has examined the presence and implications of morphological asymmetries in ice hockey players. The purpose of this study was to 1) investigate body composition asymmetries in female and male university level ice hockey players and 2) examine whether the degree of...

According to the oxidative stress theory, reactive species are key drivers of inflammation and cardiovascular disease (1). The electron transport chain of the mitochondria accounts for ≈90 of the intracellular radioactive oxygen species (2). Interestingly, while low-carbohydrate high-protein diets promote weight loss, animal experiments show that they could also lead to mitochondrial dysfunction and therefore, oxidative stress and inflammation (3). In parallel, research in the last decade has...

Background: During atherosclerotic plaque development, vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) undergo dedifferentiation, resulting in a synthetic, less contractile progenitor state. This transition is marked by changes in mitochondrial respiration and increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. These changes in bioenergetics play a critical role in atherogenesis via facilitation of VSMC migration towards the intima. Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate t...

Efficient neural transmission is crucial for optimal brain function, yet the plastic potential of white matter (WM) has long been overlooked. Growing evidence now shows that modifications to axons and myelin occur not only as a result of long-term learning, but also after short training periods [1]. Motor sequence learning (MSL) has been shown to occur in overlapping learning stages where different neural circuits are involved at each stage [2]. However, most studies investigating short-term ...

Background: Recovery kinetics following cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) have yet not been described in people with OSA and comorbid insomnia (COMISA). Our objectives were to i) describe heart rate recovery (HRR), oxygen recovery slopes (VO2/t) and time to half recovery of VO2max (T½) following CPET in COMISA; and ii) investigate their response to either one of the following: 16 weeks of exercise training (Ex) or 8 week-relaxation control intervention followed by 8 weeks of exercise an...