Filipe Antonio de Barros Sousa

Background: Adolescents with congenital heart disease (CHD) have high cardiovascular risk (CVR), related to clinical, behavioral and socioeconomic factors. A sedentary lifestyle, physical inactivity and unfavorable socioeconomic conditions can aggravate this risk, while regular physical activity, a healthy diet and lipid profile control are protective factors. Objective: To determine the relationship among clinical, behavioral, and socioeconomic factors and CVR in adolescents with CHD. Methods: Cross-sectional study with 75 adolescents, aged 10 to 18 years old, attending a reference outpatient service in Alagoas, Brazil. The Physical Activity Questionnaire for Children, Questionnaire for Screen Time of Adolescents, lipid and glycemic profile and Pathobiological Determinants of Atherosclerosis in Youth score were used. Associations were tested by chi-square for categorical variables and Student’s t-test for continuous variables. Multivariate binary logistic regression was used by the backward non-conditional method, adjusted for significant confounding factors ( p < 0.20). Results: A total of 75 adolescents were recruited, 62.6% showed low CVR, 82.7% exhibited excessive sedentary behavior and 90.7% were physically inactive, both associated with lipid alterations. Females had a lower odds ratio (OR) of 0.32 (95% CI = 0.11; 0.91) for higher CVR, while high complexity of CHD had an OR of 4.38 (95% CI = 1.02; 18.69) for high LDL-c levels. Adolescents with lower income had an OR of 3.29 (95% CI = 1.20; 9.08) for low HDL-c levels. Conclusion: Adolescents with CHD have a high sedentary lifestyle, low levels of physical activity and clinical and socioeconomic factors that increase cardiovascular risk.

Athletes mobilize both aerobic and anaerobic systems to produce energy during soccer matches, and it drastically modifies the concentration of metabolites related to muscle damage and energy metabolism. The fatigue-associated mechanism seems to encompass tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA) disturbances, with a greater contribution of lipid-pathway metabolites in women during soccer matches. However, to the best of our knowledge, the effects of matches played during two championships on the metabolites and pathways associated with energy production in female players have not yet been described. Metabolomic analysis in sports context can better characterize the main metabolites related to energy production and the metabolic pathways. The aim of this study was to describe the variation in metabolites over the course of two championships in female players' urine, highlighting the occurrence of energy production-associated metabolites and the metabolic pathways they may arise from. Urine samples were collected before and after six matches of two championships. Nuclear magnetic resonance metabolomic approach was used for this purpose. Citrate, succinate, 1-methylnicotinamide, alpha-hydroxyisobutyrate, malonic and glycolic acids, phosphocreatine, and lactate were the compounds originated from energy generation processes with high scores in variable importance prediction (VIP), impacting on partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) groupings of players. Phenylalanine biosynthesis, tyrosine and tryptophan biosynthesis, and the TCA cycle were mobilized before the matches, and the metabolism of taurine and hypotaurine were modulated across both moments.

Background: Soccer’s varied physical demands require meticulous load monitoring, which is now being advanced by combining GPS for external metrics and NMR-based metabolomics for internal metabolic profiling. This study aimed to investigate how player position influences the metabolomic profile (as a marker of internal load) under known match effort (external load). Methods: This was a longitudinal observational descriptive study involving 12 professional soccer players from the U-20 São Paulo Football Club, enrolled in the 2022 São Paulo State Under-20 Football Championship. Players were monitored across six matches during the season, culminating in a total of 49 individual match observations from those players (4-2-3-1 formation: Central Defenders [CD], n = 9; Full Backs [FB], n = 9; Central Midfielders [CM], n = 14; Wide Midfielders [WM], n = 12; Forwards [F], n = 5). Internal load was assessed via urinary metabolomics, with urine samples collected 24 h post-match. A non-targeted, global metabolomics approach was employed using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. External load was monitored using GPS tracking devices. Multivariate analyses included partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA), and heat maps. Results: Metabolomic analysis identified 38 metabolites with a Variable Importance in Projection (VIP) score > 1.0, revealing perturbations in carbohydrate metabolism and the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, amino acid and peptide metabolism, pyrimidine metabolism, and ketone body pathways, and effectively discriminating post-match recovery metabolic profiles. External load metrics varied significantly by player position: CMs covered greater distances below 20 km/h (8702.93 ± 1271.89 m), exhibited higher relative distance (114.29 ± 7.67 m/min), total distance (9193.21 ± 1261.35 m), and player load (945.71 ± 135.82 a.u.); CDs achieved higher peak speeds (31.78 ± 1.20 m/s); and WMs performed greater sprint distances (168.11 ± 91.69 m). Metabolomic profiles indicated that CMs showed stronger associations with markers of muscle damage and inflammation, whereas CDs and WMs were more closely linked to energy metabolism and oxidative stress. Conclusions: These results highlight the importance of a personalized approach to training load monitoring and recovery strategies, considering the distinct physiological and metabolic demands associated with each player position.

Excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS) production during sports can impair performance and recovery. A diet rich in exogenous antioxidants plays a key role in counteracting oxidative stress, and its complex interactions with various circulating compounds can be explored through metabolomics. With the rising popularity of women's soccer, a deeper understanding of dietary intake and its metabolic interactions in female athletes is needed. The study's aims are to assess the habitual dietary intake of antioxidant micronutrients and their associations with oxidative/antioxidant metabolites in female professional soccer players through NMR-based metabolomics. This cross-sectional study included 14 professional female soccer players. Urine samples were collected before and immediately after six games (three per championship) and analyzed by NMR-based metabolomics. Habitual food intake was recorded through 11 food diaries during the preseason. The focus was on vitamins A, C, and E, selenium, zinc, and magnesium. Associations were assessed using Pearson correlations and the DIABLO model. Among the antioxidant micronutrients, only vitamin C and selenium met adequate intake levels. The metabolomics analysis identified 41 metabolites, with key markers of oxidative stress-malonic acid, pyruvate, and glycine-showing strong associations with vitamin E, magnesium, selenium, and zinc, particularly before the game. The antioxidant micronutrient intake of most athletes did not meet the recommended levels. Malonic acid showed positive correlations, while glycine had negative correlations with these micronutrients before the game, suggesting a potential link between antioxidant activity at rest and habitual nutrient intake.

Introduction In soccer, most studies evaluate metabolic profile changes in male athletes, often using data from a single match. Given the current landscape of women’s soccer and the effects of biological sex on the physiological response and adaptation to exercise, more studies targeting female athletes and analyzing pre- and post-game moments throughout the season are necessary. Objectives To describe the metabolomics profile of female soccer athletes from an elite team in Brazil. The study observed the separation of groups in three pre- and post-game moments and identified the discriminating metabolites. Methods The study included 14 female soccer athletes. Urine samples were collected and analyzed using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance in pre-game and immediate post-game moments over three national championship games. The metabolomics data were then used to generate OPLS-DA and VIP plots. Results Forty-three metabolites were identified in the samples. OPLS-DA analyses demonstrated a progressive separation between pre-post conditions, as supported by an increasing Q² value (0.534, 0.625, and 0.899 for games 1, 2 and 3, respectively) and the first component value (20.2% and 19.1% in games 1 and 2 vs. 29.9% in game 3). Eight out of the fifteen most discriminating metabolites appeared consistently across the three games: glycine, formate, citrate, 3-hydroxyvalerate, glycolic acid, trimethylamine, urea, and dimethylglycine. Conclusion The main difference between the three games was the increasing separation between groups throughout the championship. Since the higher VIP-scores metabolites are linked to energy and protein metabolism, this separation may be attributed several factors, one being the accumulation of fatigue.

The Force-velocity (F-v) and Power-velocity (P-v) relationships quantify athlete's horizontal force production capacities during sprinting. Efforts are underway to enhance ecological validity for practitioners and sports coaches. This study provides detailed data comparison of a low frames per second setup (30 Hz; FPS_low) with splits from a high FPS camera to derive F-v and P-v relationships. Sixty-six sprints performed by 11 university track and field athletes (6 male, 5 female) were evaluated. Data were recorded using FPS_low, photocells, and a high-speed camera (240 Hz; MySprint). In the FPS_low setup, bias was 0.17s, and Limits of agreement was 0.09s compared to photocells. ICC was 1.00, and the coefficient of variation (CV) was 1.0% [0.8-1.1%]. Time acquisition comparison between MySprint and FPS_low setups revealed high consistency (ICC = 0.99) and low CV (2.9% [2.8-3.1%]). F-v profile variables exhibited biases from trivial to small, with ICC ranging from moderate to nearly perfect. CV ranged from 2.7% to 11.8%, and improved using the average of three sprints (CV between 1.8% and 8.6%). The 'simple method' applied to data from the low FPS video setup yielded kinetic and kinematic parameters comparable to those obtained by the validated previous method and photocells.

There is a lack of evidence on the additional benefits of combining caffeine (CAF) and creatine (CRE) supplementation on anaerobic power and capacity. Thus, the aim of the present study was to test the effects of combined and isolated supplementation of CAF and CRE on anaerobic power and capacity. Twenty-four healthy men performed a baseline Wingate anaerobic test and were then allocated into a CRE (n = 12) or placebo (PLA; n = 12) group. The CRE group ingested 20 g/day of CRE for 8 days, while the PLA group ingested 20 g/day of maltodextrin for the same period. On the sixth and eighth days of the loading period, both groups performed a Wingate anaerobic test 1 hr after either CAF (5 mg/kg of body mass; CRE + CAF and PLA + CAF conditions) or PLA (5 mg/kg of body mass of cellulose; CRE + PLA and PLA + PLA conditions) ingestion. After the loading period, changes in body mass were greater (p < .05) in the CRE (+0.87 ± 0.23 kg) than in the PLA group (+0.13 ± 0.27 kg). In both groups, peak power was higher (p = .01) in the CAF (1,033.4 ± 209.3 W) than in the PLA trial (1,003.3 ± 204.4 W), but mean power was not different between PLA and CAF trials (p > .05). In conclusion, CAF, but not CRE ingestion, increases anaerobic power. Conversely, neither CRE nor CAF has an effect on anaerobic capacity.

The aim was to investigate the long-term effects of metformin ingestion on high-intensity interval training on performance, glycogen concentration (GC), GLUT-4 content, and metabolomics outcomes in rats. Fifty male Wistar rats were randomly divided into baseline, metformin (500 mg daily), and control groups. Training consisted of 4 sets of 10 jumps with 30 s of passive recovery per day, 5 days/week for 8 weeks. The intensity equivalent was 50% of body mass (BM) in the first four weeks and 70% of BM in the last four weeks. The animals were submitted to a weekly jump test until exhaustion at 50% of BM. Serum and tissues were collected at baseline and after 4 and 8 weeks for biochemical and metabolomics analysis. The number of jumps increased in the Control group without a significant difference between groups at 4 and 8 weeks. GLUT4 was lower in the gastrocnemius muscle in the Metformin at the fourth week compared to Control (P=0.03) and compared to Metformin (P=0.02) and Control (P=0.01) at eight weeks. Hepatic and soleus GC were not altered by metformin. Gastrocnemius GC was lower after 8 weeks in the Metformin group compared to Control (P=0.01). Significantly lower levels of pyruvate and phenylalanine and higher levels of ethanol, formate, betaine, very low-density lipoprotein, low-density lipoprotein, and creatine were found in the Metformin compared to the Control. Although chronic administration of metformin decreased food intake and negatively influenced the synthesis of muscle glycogen, it did not significantly change physical performance compared to the Control.

The purpose of this study was to verify the association between angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) genotypes DD, DI, and II and caffeine (CAF) ingestion on endurance performance, heart rate, ratio of perceived exertion (RPE), and habitual caffeine intake (HCI) of adolescent athletes. Seventy-four male adolescent athletes (age: DD=16±1.7; DI=16±2.0; II=15±1.7 years) ingested CAF (6 mg/kg) or placebo (PLA) one hour before performing the Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery level 1 (Yo-Yo IR1) test. No difference was found among groups for HCI. However, CAF increased the maximal distance covered and VO₂max in DI and II genotype carriers compared to PLA (DD: Δ=31 m and 0.3 mL·kg^-1·min^-1; DI: Δ=286 m and 1.1 mL·kg^-1·min^-1; II: Δ=160 m and 1.4 mL·kg^-1·min^-1). Heart rate of DI and II genotype carriers increased with CAF compared to PLA, while RPE was higher in the II and lower in the DD genotypes. The correlations between HCI and maximal distance covered or VO₂max were significant in the II genotype carriers with CAF. CAF increased endurance capacity, heart rate, and RPE in adolescent athletes with allele I, while endurance performance and aerobic power had a positive correlation to HCI in the II genotype group. These findings suggested that DD genotype were less responsive to CAF and that genetic variations should be taken into account when using CAF supplementation to enhance exercise performance.

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are the major cause of death worldwide and have economic, psychological, and social impacts. Air pollution is the second, contributing to NCDs-related deaths. Metabolomics are a useful diagnostic and prognostic tool for NCDs, as they allow the identification of biomarkers linked to emerging pathologic processes. The aim of the present study was to review the scientific literature on the application of metabolomics profiling in NCDs and to discuss environmental planning actions to assist healthcare systems and public managers based on early metabolic diagnosis. The search was conducted following PRISMA guidelines using Web of Science, Scopus, and PubMed databases with the following MeSH terms: “metabolomics” AND “noncommunicable diseases” AND “air pollution”. Twenty-nine studies were eligible. Eleven involved NCDs prevention, eight addressed diabetes mellitus, insulin resistance, systemic arterial hypertension, or metabolic syndrome. Six studies focused on obesity, two evaluated nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, two studied cancer, and none addressed chronic respiratory diseases. The studies provided insights into the biological pathways associated with NCDs. Understanding the cost of delivering care where there will be a critical increase in NCDs prevalence is crucial to achieving universal health coverage and improving population health by allocating environmental planning and treatment resources.