Mediterranean Journal of Nutrition and Metabolism

The dietary quality of young adults often worsens during the transition to adulthood. University students, especially considering documented gender differences in eating habits, are prime targets for promoting healthy lifestyles to prevent noncommunicable diseases.

This study investigates the prevalence of overweight among students and analyzes disparities in physical activity, dietary practices, and the use of complementary medicine across genders, while also exploring factors influencing overweight.

A cross-sectional survey of 502 students aged 23 ± 3.67 from Ibn Tofail University was conducted in the spring of 2023. Students completed a self-reported questionnaire addressing various lifestyle habits. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS v23) to assess weight status, lifestyle habits, and gender differences.

Results show that 21.10% of students are overweight, while 72.90% are not. A significant association was found between gender and physical activity levels (p <0.0001), as well as gender differences in meal frequency (p <0.01), snacking behaviors (p <0.01), and sleep duration (p <0.0001). Notably, during stressful periods, males and females differed in their consumption of high-fat, high-sodium snacks such as crisps (p <0.01). Additionally, the internet and social media were significantly associated with BMI variations (p <0.01). Logistic regression analysis revealed that participants who reported that the internet influenced their eating habits had 1.68 times higher odds of being overweight compared to those unaffected by the internet (p =0.02).

These findings underscore the influence of online content on dietary behaviors and highlight the importance of strategies to improve students’ nutritional profiles, potentially reducing health risks associated with unhealthy lifestyles in the Moroccan population.

Energy imbalance can be caused by several clinical conditions commonly found in advanced CKD and end-stage renal disease (ESRD), resulting in nutritional deficiencies.

We aimed to investigate whether there is a difference in resting energy expenditure (REE) between patients with ESRD undergoing HD or PD and those with non-dialysis-dependent chronic kidney disease (NDD-CKD) and also to evaluate the relationship among REE and possible factors that might affect REE.

We included 29 patients undergoing HD, 29 patients undergoing PD, and 29 patients with stage 3–5 NDD-CKD. FFM was estimated using multifrequency bioimpedance analysis. REE was evaluated with indirect calorimetry. The serum level of Interleukin-6(IL-6) was measured using the chemiluminescence immunoassay technique. REE was normalized for FFM via the REE/FFM ratio.

The study included 45(52%) females. A total of 87 patients were included in the study. The mean age of the patients was 50 ± 12 years. REE/FFM ratio was higher in the HD group than in the PD (p = 0.031) and NDD-CKD (p = 0.002) groups. IL-6 was higher in the HD group than the NDD-CKD group (p = 0.004) and similar in the HD and PD groups (p = 0.089). REE/FFM ratio was positively correlated with IL-6 (r = 0.47, p < 0.001). Age, IL-6, and HD predicted REE/FFM ratio (F = 7.763, p < 0.001). In the analysis performed by including HD and PD patients, gender and HD were effective in predicting REE/FFM ratio (F = 3.315, p = 0.011).

REE was to be higher in the HD group than in the PD and NDD-CKD groups. The fact that HD patients have a higher REE than the NDD-CKD group may be explained by the higher IL-6 level. Further studies are needed to identify factors that may cause HD patients to have a higher REE than PD patients.

Childhood obesity presents numerous comorbidities such as insulin resistance (IR) and dyslipidemia, and could be associated with alterations in novel markers of cardiovascular (CV) risk like: (1) the activities of associated enzymes such as lipoprotein associated phospholipase A₂ (Lp-PLA₂) and paraoxonase 1 (PON 1), (2) reverse cholesterol transport (RCT), which comprises cellular cholesterol efflux (CCE), in addition to lecithin:cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT) and cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) activities, and (3) high density lipoprotein (HDL) antioxidant capacity. Moreover, IR could worsen these cardiometabolic alterations. The objective of the present study was to characterize the effect of IR on novel CV markers in a pediatric population with obesity.

Twenty-five obese children and adolescents with IR, and 25 without IR took part in the study. Anthropometric parameters, Tanner stage and dietary habits were registered. Glucose, insulin, non-esterified fatty acid (NEFA), lipid, and high sensitivity C reactive protein (hsCRP) levels, plus Lp-PLA₂, LCAT, CETP and PON 1 activities, as well as CCE and HDL antioxidant capacity were measured. A cutoff point of 3.16 in Homeostatic Model Assessment for Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR) determined the presence of IR.

No differences were observed in age, sex and Tanner stage. Expectedly, the group with IR displayed higher insulin and NEFA levels (p < 0.05). They also presented increased Lp-PLA₂ and decreased PON activities (p < 0.05). Importantly, these differences were associated with dietary habits (p < 0.05).

IR present in pediatric obesity associated with vascular specific inflammation and reduced PON 1 activity, in addition to alterations in glucose metabolism, thus increasing CV risk in adulthood. These proatherogenic disturbances were conditioned by dietary habits.

Although vitamin D3 (VD3) may regulate gut microbiota to play protective roles in systemic inflammation, its effects on gut metabolomics have not been clarified.

To investigate the effects of VD3 on gut metabolomics in LPS-injected mice.

After LPS-injected mice were intervened with VD3, colon contents were collected for an untargeted metabolomics analysis, with morphology and permeability of colon epithelium illustrated.

The results confirmed the protective effects of VD3 against the inflammatory changes and hyperpermeability of colon epithelium in LPS-injected mice. In untargeted metabolomic analysis of colon contents, principal component analysis showed valid data. Both partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) and orthogonal PLS-DA (OPLS-DA) showed intergroup separation of samples between the control and LPS-injected mice. Similarly, VD3 affected the gut metabolite profiling and composition in LPS-injected mice, which were also shown by PLS-DA and OPLS-DA. Furthermore, differential metabolites were identified by an univariate statistical analysis. For LPS stimulation, the gut metabolomics changed obviously, such as some lipid-related metabolites appeared increase. However, VD3 treatment had distinctive effects on the gut metabolomics, especially the induced appearance of protective Soyasaponins, with reduction in lipid-related metabolites.

VD3 affected the gut metabolomics and alleviated the epithelium inflammatory injuries in LPS-injected mice.

Bee pollen is a hive derived product formed from the agglomeration of flower pollen, nectar and bee saliva. It's hailed for its potential health benefits such as antioxidant, antibacterial and anti-inflammatory effect.

The present work aims to assess the Algerian bee pollen quality by highlighting their phenolic composition, their antioxidant, antimicrobial, enzymatic and antiviral activities, in addition to wound healing and Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) protection effect.

In this study, fourteen Algerian bee pollen 70% ethanol extracts samples were analyzed to determine their phenolic profils and biological activities. Thus, Reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography with Ultraviolet Detection RP-HPLC-UV is done, antioxidant, antibacterial, enzymatic, wound healing, DNA protection and anti-Herpes Simplex Virus 1 (anti- HSV-1) tests are carried out.

The samples showed good antioxidant activity, variation in phenolic composition, selective antibacterial activity against Gram negative bacteria strains (Escherichia coli “E.coli”, Salmonella typhimurium and Yersinia pestis), inhibition to acetylcholinesterase and α-glucosidase and activation of Superoxide Dismutase (SOD). The samples P4, P7, P8 and P14 show high wound healing potential while P6 and P10 have DNA protection effect. Only P7 have anti-HSV-1 activity.

The different biological activities varied according to the phytochemical composition of each sample and not according to the harvest region. That is confirmed by Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and different correlations relationships between activities and bioactive compounds where it can be seen that the samples were grouped according to their composition and not by the region of the harvest.

Ovarian cancer is one of the most common malignancies in the female reproductive system. Honey has a range of medical properties. It has been shown to have anticancer properties, especially for breast, cervical, etc. cancers.

In our study, we aimed to investigate the cytotoxic, anti-migratory, and mitochondrial apoptotic pathway effects of Multifloral honey on the Ovarian Adenocarcinoma SKOV3 cell line.

The MTT assay was used to evaluate the anti-proliferative effect of Multifloral honey on SKOV3 and HDF cell lines. Subsequently, differences in the expression of genes involved in mitochondrial apoptosis in the SKOV3 cell were examined using RT-qPCR and Western Blot methods. Finally, the effects of Multifloral honey on migration in SKOV3 cell were observed under a microscope.

It was found that honey did not exhibit a cytotoxic effect on HDF cell, but significantly suppressed SKOV3 cell proliferation, promoting apoptosis. In our study on SKOV3 cells, we observed a significant decrease in the ratio of apoptotic genes Bax/Bcl-2 (P = 0.0043) using the RT-qPCR method, while the expressions of Cyt-C and Bad increased significantly (P = 0.0034 and P < 0.0001, respectively). Western Blot analysis confirmed the decrease in the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio. In our wound healing results, we found that honey inhibited migration in the SKOV3 cell.

Our results provide preliminary evidence that Multifloral honey induces cell death in SKOV3 cell line through involvement in the intrinsic apoptotic pathways, and it demonstrates significant anticancer activity against human ovarian cancer cell lines for the first time.