louise burke

In the past decade, the study of relationships among nutrition, exercise and the effects on health and athletic performance, has substantially increased. The 2014 introduction of Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (REDs) prompted sports scientists and clinicians to investigate these relationships in more populations and with more outcomes than had been previously pursued in mostly white, adolescent or young adult, female athletes. Much of the existing physiology and concepts, however, are either based on or extrapolated from limited studies, and the comparison of studies is hindered by the lack of standardised protocols...

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The 2023 International Olympic Committee (IOC) consensus statement on Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (REDs) notes that exposure to low energy availability (LEA) exists on a continuum between adaptable and problematic LEA, with a range of potential effects on both health and performance. However, there is variability in the outcomes of LEA exposure between and among individuals as well as the specific manifestations of REDs. We outline a framework for a 'systems biology' examination of the effect of LEA on individual body systems, with the eventual goal of creating an integrated map of body system interactions...

BACKGROUND: The assessment of body composition (BC) in sport raises concern for athlete health, especially where an overfocus on being lighter or leaner increases the risk of Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (REDs) and disordered eating. METHODS: We undertook a critical review of the effect of BC on performance (29 longitudinal, prospective or intervention studies) and explored current practice related to BC considerations via a follow-up to a 2013 internationally distributed survey...

The increasing prevalence of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) producing Enterobacterales (ESBL-PE) and carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales (CPE) is a major public health concern worldwide. Despite the associated risk of infection from gut colonisation with a resistant Enterobacterales, the incidence and duration of carriage in healthy individuals is poorly studied. This "persistence study" is the first in Ireland to assess the longitudinal carriage of ESBL-PE and CPE in healthy individuals. A cohort of 45 participants, 22 of whom were colonised with ESBL-PE, was recruited from a recently completed point prevalence study that investigated colonisation in recreational water users (WU) versus controls...

OBJECTIVES: Escherichia coli ST 127 is a pandemic clone that belongs to the extraintestial pathogenic (ExPEC) family, associated with urinary tract infections and bloodstream infections. Here, we report the complete genome of an E. coli ST127 isolate which was identified in the saliva of a patient with Treatment Resistant Schizophrenia (TRS) exhibting no signs of infection. The objective of this work is to determine the mobile genetic elements (MGEs), antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), and virulence factors (VFs) that contribute to the pathogenicity of such ST127 isolates...

BACKGROUND: The Great Recession, following the 2008 financial crisis, led many governments to adopt programmes of austerity. This had a lasting impact on health system functionality, resources, staff (numbers, motivation and morale) and patient outcomes. This study aimed to understand how health system resilience was impacted and how this affects readiness for subsequent shocks. METHODS: A realist review identified legacies associated with austerity (proximal outcomes) and how these impact the distal outcome of health system resilience...

Endurance exercise can disturb intestinal epithelial integrity, leading to increased systemic indicators of cell injury, hyperpermeability, and pathogenic translocation. However, the interaction between exercise, diet, and gastrointestinal disturbance still warrants exploration. This study examined whether a 6-day dietary intervention influenced perturbations to intestinal epithelial disruption in response to a 25-km race walk. Twenty-eight male race walkers adhered to a high carbohydrate (CHO)/energy diet (65% CHO, energy availability = 40 kcal·kg FFM-1·day-1) for 6 days prior to a Baseline 25-km race walk...

BACKGROUND: Fluid loss during prolonged exercise in hot conditions poses thermoregulatory and cardiovascular challenges for athletes that can lead to impaired performance. Pre-exercise hyperhydration using nutritional aids is a strategy that may prevent or delay the adverse effects of dehydration and attenuate the impact of heat stress on exercise performance. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this systematic review was to examine the current literature to determine the effect of pre-exercise hyperhydration on performance, key physiological responses and gastrointestinal symptoms...

BACKGROUND: Hepcidin, the master iron regulatory hormone, has been shown to peak 3-6 h postexercise, and is likely a major contributor to the prevalence of iron deficiency in athletes. Although multiple studies have investigated the hepcidin response to exercise, small sample sizes preclude the generalizability of current research findings. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this individual participant data meta-analysis was to identify key factors influencing the hepcidin-exercise response...

CONTEXT: Adolescence is a critical stage for improving nutrition. The popularity of smartphones makes them an ideal platform for administering interventions to adolescents. A systematic review has yet to assess the impact of smartphone app-based interventions exclusively on adolescents' dietary intake. Furthermore, despite the impact of equity factors on dietary intake and the claim for mobile health of increased accessibility, there is minimal research on the reporting of equity factors in the evaluation of smartphone app-based nutrition-intervention research...

AIM: Adjuvant chemotherapy in NSCLC is associated with modest benefits and significant toxicity. We sought to evaluate the toxicity of adjuvant chemotherapy and disease-specific outcomes in a real-world population. METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis of patients undergoing adjuvant chemotherapy for NSCLC in an Irish center over a 7-year period. We described treatment-associated toxicity, recurrence-free survival and overall survival. RESULTS: 62 patients underwent adjuvant chemotherapy...

PURPOSE: To examine the effects of a high-carbohydrate diet (HCHO), periodized-carbohydrate (CHO) diet (PCHO), and ketogenic low-CHO high-fat diet (LCHF) on training capacity. METHODS: Elite male racewalkers completed 3 weeks of periodic training while adhering to their dietary intervention. Twenty-nine data sets were collected from 21 athletes. Each week, 6 mandatory training sessions were completed, with additional sessions performed at the athlete's discretion...

Understanding the role of exposure to natural recreational waters in the acquisition and transmission of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is an area of increasing interest. A point prevalence study was carried out in the island of Ireland to determine the prevalence of colonisation with extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing Enterobacterales (ESBL-PE) and carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CRE) in recreational water users (WU) and matched controls. A total of 411 adult participants (199 WU, 212 controls) submitted at least one faecal sample between September 2020 - October 2021...

OBJECTIVE: Preliminary evidence indicates that interventions designed to support family and friends ('carers') of young people with early-stage borderline personality disorder effectively improve carer outcomes. None of these interventions have been tested in a randomised controlled trial. METHOD: This clustered, partially nested, randomised controlled trial was conducted at Orygen, Melbourne, Australia. Carers of young people (aged 15-25 years) with borderline personality disorder features were randomly assigned as a unit in a 1:1 ratio, balanced for young person's sex and age, to receive a 15-day intervention comprising: (1) the three-session, in-person, Making Sense of BPD (MS-BPD) multi-family group programme, plus two self-directed online psychoeducational modules (MS-BPD + Online, n  = 38), or (2) the two self-directed online psychoeducational modules alone (Online, n  = 41)...

The aim of this audit was to assess the representation of female athletes, dietary control methods, and gold standard female methodology that underpins the current guidelines for chronic carbohydrate (CHO) intake strategies for athlete daily training diets. Using a standardized audit, 281 studies were identified that examined high versus moderate CHO, periodized CHO availability, and/or low CHO, high fat diets. There were 3,735 total participants across these studies with only ∼16% of participants being women...

OBJECTIVE: The value of ventilation-perfusion (VQ) single photon emission tomography/computed tomography (SPECT/CT) lobar quantification for pre-operative assessment of lobectomy and lung volume reduction is known. Our in-house developed software, RAH ventilation perfusion SPECT/CT quantification (RAHVQSQ) has been shown to be able to identify the target lobe for collapse in bronchoscopic lung volume reduction (BLVR) for advanced emphysema. We have proven inter and intra observer reproducibility but are yet to validate the accuracy of our program...

B-cell lymphoma 6 (BCL6) is a transcriptional repressor and oncogenic driver of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). Here, we report the optimization of our previously reported tricyclic quinolinone series for the inhibition of BCL6. We sought to improve the cellular potency and in vivo exposure of the non-degrading isomer, CCT373567 , of our recently published degrader, CCT373566 . The major limitation of our inhibitors was their high topological polar surface areas (TPSA), leading to increased efflux ratios...

PURPOSE: We investigated short-term (9 d) exposure to low energy availability (LEA) in elite endurance athletes during a block of intensified training on self-reported well-being, body composition and performance. METHODS: Twenty-three highly trained race walkers undertook a ~ 3 w research-embedded training camp during which they undertook baseline testing and 6 d of high energy/carbohydrate (CHO) availability (40 kcal·kg FFM-1·d-1) before being allocated to 9 d continuation of this diet (HCHO: n = 10 M, 2F) or a significant decrease in energy availability to 15 kcal·kg FFM-1·d-1 (LEA: n = 10 M, 1F)...

The IL-36 cytokines are a recently described subset of the IL-1 family of cytokines, and have been shown to play a role in the pathogenesis of respiratory diseases such as asthma and COPD. Given the common aetiological links between COPD and lung cancer development, as well as the involvement of other IL-1 family members in lung tumorigenesis, the aim of this work was to investigate the role of IL-36 cytokines in the pathogenesis of lung cancer. In this study we demonstrate that expression of IL-36 cytokines and receptor mRNA and protein are significantly increased in lung cancer tissue compared to adjacent non-tumour tissue...