Assessing the prevalence and potential drivers of food insecurity and the relationship with mental wellbeing in UK university students: A cross-sectional study.

Food insecurity (FI) among university students in the United States has been associated with poor mental wellbeing, but very little is known about the relationship between FI and mental wellbeing in the UK university population. Here we examined the prevalence of FI, determined potential drivers for it and its relationship with mental wellbeing and coping ability. Students studying at UK universities (n = 289) completed an online self-reported questionnaire to obtain socio-economic characteristics including financial status, FI status (Household Food Insecurity Access scale), mental wellbeing (Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale) and coping ability (coping flexibility scale).

Active vitamin D increases myogenic differentiation in C2C12 cells via a vitamin D response element on the myogenin promoter.

Skeletal muscle development during embryogenesis depends on proliferation of myoblasts followed by differentiation into myotubes/multinucleated myofibers. Vitamin D (VD) has been shown to affect these processes, but there is conflicting evidence within the current literature on the exact nature of these effects due to a lack of time course data. With 20%-40% of pregnant women worldwide being VD deficient, it is crucial that a clearer understanding of the impact of VD on myogenesis is gained.

A Comparison of Primary Human Hepatocytes and Hepatoma Cell Lines to Model the Effects of Fatty Acids, Fructose and Glucose on Liver Cell Lipid Accumulation.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) begins with lipid accumulation within hepatocytes, but the relative contributions of different macronutrients is still unclear. We investigated the impact of fatty acids, glucose and fructose on lipid accumulation in primary human hepatocytes (PHH) and three different cell lines: HepG2 (human hepatoblastoma−derived cell line), Huh7 (human hepatocellular carcinoma cell line) and McA-RH7777 (McA, rat hepatocellular carcinoma cell line). Cells were treated for 48 h with fatty acids (0 or 200 μM), glucose (5 mM or 11 mM) and fructose (0 mM, 2 mM or 8 mM).

Effects of Biologically Active Vitamin D on Myogenesis: A Systematic Review.

Vitamin D (VD) deficiency is associated with muscle weakness. A reduction in the incidence of falls in the elderly following VD supplementation and identification of the VD receptor within muscle cells suggests a direct effect of VD on muscle, but little is known about the underlying mechanisms. Here we systematically searched the literature to identify effects of active VD [1,25(OH)2D3] on skeletal muscle myogenesis , with no restriction on year of publication.