17 During the latter stages of the test, each subject was verbally encouraged by the test operators to give their maximal effort. In addition, an ECG was monitored continuously while recording

the heart rate (HR). The expired gas was collected, and the rates of oxygen consumption (VO2) and carbon dioxide production (VCO2) were measured breath-by-breath using a cardiopulmonary gas exchange system (Oxycon Alpha, Mijnhrdt B.V., Netherlands). The achievement of peak oxygen uptake was accepted if the following two conditions were met: the subject’s maximal HR was >95% of the age-predicted maximal HR (220 – age), and the VO2 curve showed a leveling off. In http://www.selleckchem.com/products/Adriamycin.html addition, the observed maximal work rate during the testing was used for this analysis. Resting systolic and diastolic BP (SBP and DBP) were measured indirectly using a mercury sphygmomanometer placed on the right arm of the seated participant after at least 15 min of rest. After the subjects fasted overnight for 10–12 h, blood samples were collected in order to determine the levels of HDL cholesterol, triglycerides (L Type Wako Triglyceride H, Wako Chemical, Osaka, Japan), insulin and blood glucose. Serum insulin was measured by immunoradiometric

assay (IRMA) using INSULIN RIABEAD (DAINABOT, Tokyo, Japan). Blood glucose was measured by the glucose-oxidant method. The insulin resistance was evaluated using the homeostasis model assessment, the Homeostasis model assessment Tariquidar molecular weight (HOMA) index (fasting plasma glucose (mg/dL) × fasting serum insulin (μU/mL)/405), according to the method developed by Matthews et al.18 All data are expressed as means ± SD values. The sample sizes of all parameters were thought to be sufficient and had a normal distribution, and hence Pearson’s correlation coefficients were calculated and used to test the significance of the linear relationship between continuous parameters: where p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. However, in the relationship between the peak oxygen uptake and regional body composition, and between the work rate and regional body composition,

a p < 0.007 (0.05/7≈0.007) was considered statistically significant after the Bonferroni correction. Multiple regression analysis was also used to adjust for confounding factors, and p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. the The measurements of parameters are summarized in Table 1. The peak oxygen uptake in enrolled subjects was 37.6 ± 8.7 mL/kg/min in men, and 31.1 ± 6.4 mL/kg/min in women. The total body fat percentage using DEXA was 19.4% ± 5.3% in men and 26.2% ± 5.7% in women (Table 1). We investigated the age-related changes in peak oxygen uptake. The peak oxygen uptake was significantly and negatively correlated with age (men: r = −0.500, p < 0.0001; women: r = −0.486, p < 0.0001). The simple correlation analysis between peak oxygen uptake and anthropometric, body composition parameters using DEXA was evaluated (Table 2).