Akiyama Tomohiro, Hatakeyama Shinnosuke, Kawamoto Kazuhisa, Nihei Hideko, Hirata Takamichi, Nomura Tomohiro
Advanced Research Laboratories, Tokyo City University, Tokyo 158-0082, Japan.
Graduate School of Education, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan.
Nanomaterials (Basel). 2022 Mar 16;12(6):980. doi: 10.3390/nano12060980.
Nanotechnology has widespread applications in sports; however, there are very few studies reporting the use of nanotechnology to enhance physical performance. We hypothesize that a natural-mineral-based novel nanomaterial, which was developed from Japanese hot springs, might overcome the limitations. We examined if it could enhance physical performance. We conducted a treadmill exercise test on 18 students of athletic clubs at Fukushima University, Japan, and measured heart rate, oxygen consumption, maximal oxygen consumption, CO2 production, and respiratory quotient 106 times in total. The results showed that the elevation of heart rate was significantly suppressed in the natural-mineral-based nanomaterial group, while no differences were observed in oxygen consumption, maximal oxygen consumption, CO2 production, and respiratory quotient between groups. To our knowledge, this result is the first evidence where an improvement of cardiovascular and pulmonary functions was induced by bringing a natural-mineral-based nanomaterial into contact with or close to a living body without pharmacological intervention or physical intervention. This could open new avenue of biomedical industries even in an eco-friendly direction. The precise mechanisms remain a matter for further investigation; however, we may assume that endothelial NO synthase, hemoglobin and endothelium-derived hyperpolarizing factor are deeply involved in the improvement of cardiovascular and pulmonary functions.
纳米技术在体育领域有着广泛的应用；然而，很少有研究报道使用纳米技术来提高身体机能。我们假设一种基于天然矿物质的新型纳米材料，它是由日本温泉开发而来，可能会克服这些局限性。我们研究了它是否能提高身体机能。我们对日本福岛大学体育俱乐部的18名学生进行了跑步机运动测试，总共测量了心率、耗氧量、最大耗氧量、二氧化碳产生量和呼吸商106次。结果表明，基于天然矿物质的纳米材料组中心率的升高得到了显著抑制，而两组之间在耗氧量、最大耗氧量、二氧化碳产生量和呼吸商方面未观察到差异。据我们所知，这一结果是首次证明在没有药物干预或物理干预的情况下，通过使基于天然矿物质的纳米材料与活体接触或靠近而诱导心血管和肺功能得到改善。这甚至可能为生物医学产业开辟一个环保方向的新途径。确切的机制仍有待进一步研究；然而，我们可以假设内皮型一氧化氮合酶、血红蛋白和内皮衍生超极化因子与心血管和肺功能的改善密切相关。
