Fruit and Vegetable Consumption and the Risk of Bone Fracture: A Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluations (GRADE)-Assessed Systematic Review and Dose-Response Meta-Analysis

Researchers have examined the link between consuming fruit and vegetables and the incidence of fractures for many years. Nevertheless, their findings have been unclear. Furthermore, the dose-dependent relationship has not been examined, and the level of certainty in the evidence was not evaluated. We carried out a dose-dependent meta-analysis examining the relation between fruit and vegetables intake and fracture incidence. PubMed, Web of Sciences, and Scopus were searched until April 2023 for cohort studies evaluating the relation between fruit and vegetables and fracture incidence. Summary relative risks (RRs) were computed from complied data by applying random effects analysis. To examine the level of evidence, we utilized the approach called the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluations (GRADE). Ten cohort studies comprising 511,716 individuals were entered. There was a nonsignificant relation between fruit and vegetables, as well as only fruit intake and any fracture risk. In contrast, high versus low analysis presented that vegetables consumption was linked to a 16% decrease in any type of fracture incidence (RR 0.84; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.75 to 0.95; I 2 = 83.1%; n = 6). Also, per one serving/day (200 g/day) increments in vegetables consumption, there was a 14% decline in the fracture risk (RR 0.86; 95% CI, 0.77 to 0.97; I 2 = 84.7%; n = 5; GRADE = moderate). With moderate certainty, a greater consumption of only vegetables, but not total fruit and vegetables or only fruit, might reduce the risk of fracture. These associations were also evident in dose-response analysis. Large intervention trials are demanded to approve our findings. © 2023 The Authors. JBMR Plus published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.

Intake of Milk or Fermented Milk Combined With Fruit and Vegetable Consumption in Relation to Hip Fracture Rates: A Cohort Study of Swedish Women

Milk products may differ in pro-oxidant properties and their effects on fracture risk could potentially be modified by the intake of foods with antioxidant activity. In the population-based Swedish Mammography Cohort study, we aimed to determine how milk and fermented milk combined with fruit and vegetable consumption are associated with hip fracture. Women born in 1914-1948 (n = 61,240) answered food frequency and lifestyle questionnaires in 1987-1990 and 38,071 women contributed with updated information in 1997. During a mean follow-up of 22 years, 5827 women had a hip fracture (ascertained via official register data). Compared with a low intake of milk (<1 glass/day) and a high intake of fruits and vegetables (≥5 servings/day), a high intake of milk (≥3 glasses/day) with a concomitant low intake of fruits and vegetables (<2 servings/day) resulted in a hazard ratio (HR) of 2.49 (95% CI, 2.03 to 3.05). This higher hip fracture rate among high consumers of milk was only modestly attenuated with a concomitant high consumption of fruit and vegetables (HR, 2.14; 95% CI, 1.69 to 2.71). The combination of fruits and vegetables with fermented milk (yogurt or soured milk) yielded a different pattern with lowest rates of hip fracture in high consumers: HR, 0.81 (95% CI, 0.68 to 0.97) for ≥2 servings/day of fermented milk and ≥5 servings/day of fruits and vegetables compared with low consumption of both fruit and vegetables and fermented milk. We conclude that the amount and type of dairy products as well as fruit and vegetable intake are differentially associated with hip fracture rates in women. © 2017 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.

Resolving in vivo gene expression during collective cell migration using an integrated RNAscope, immunohistochemistry and tissue clearing method

During collective cell migration individual cells display diverse behaviors that complicate our understanding of group cell decisions of direction and cohesion. In vivo gene and protein expression analyses would shed light on the underlying molecular choreography. However, this information has been limited due to difficulties to integrate single cell detection methods and the simultaneous readout of multiple signals deep within the embryo. Here, we optimize and integrate multiplex fluorescence in situ hybridization by RNAscope, immunohistochemistry, and tissue clearing to visualize transcript and protein localization within single cells deep within intact chick embryos. Using standard confocal microscopy, we visualize the mRNA expression of up to 3 genes simultaneously within protein labeled HNK1-positive migrating cranial neural crest cells within 2day old cleared chick embryos. Gene expression differences measured between adjacent cells or within subregions are quantified using spot counting and polyline kymograph methods, respectively. This optimization and integration of methods provide an improved 3D in vivo molecular interrogation of collective cell migration and foundation to broaden into a wider range of embryo and adult model systems.

Fruit consumption among adults in Germany

Eating fruit is part of a healthy diet and can help prevent various chronic diseases. According to GEDA 2014/2015-EHIS data, 54.2% of women and 38.1% of men eat fruit daily. 38.0% of women and 25.5% of men aged 18 to 29 years eat fruit daily; and in the age group of 65 and older this figure rises to 72.6% for women and 61.1% for men. In the age groups under 65, women with higher levels of education are more likely to eat fruit every day, for men this correlation applies only to those aged between 45 and 64. In Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia, the proportion of women and men who eat fruit daily is higher than the German average, and in Bavaria and Saarland the proportion of men who eat fruit daily is lower than the German average.

ETHYLENE ACTION AND THE RIPENING OF FRUITS

Recent studies employing gas chromatography show that an amount of ethylene large enough to stimulate ripening is always present within a fruit before the respiratory climacteric begins. This fact and data from experiments in which fruits were exposed to a partial vacuum or varying concentrations of O(2), CO(2), and ethylene oxide reinforces the view that ethylene is a ripening hormone. The respiratory climacteric begins soon after the fruit is harvested because the tissue no longer receives from the shoot system a substance which inhibits ripening; this substance may act by lowering the sensitivity of the fruit to ethylene. The threshold for ethylene action is also influenced by the composition of the atmosphere, for O(2) is a substrate in the reaction activated by ethylene and CO(2) inhibits the action of ethylene by competing with the olefin for the receptor site. Experiments indicate that ethylene is derived from acetate or acids of the Krebs cycle and acts by binding to a metal receptor site in the tissue.

APPLE FRUIT PECTIC SUBSTANCES

1. The pectic substances of apple have been extracted and separated into a pure pectinic acid and a neutral arabinan-galactan complex by precipitation of the acidic component with ethanol and with cetylpyridinium chloride. 2. The composition of the fractions has been determined. The pectinic acid contained galacturonic acid, arabinose, galactose, rhamnose, xylose and several trace sugars. 3. Transelimination degradation of the pectinic acid gave rise to two components completely separable by zone electrophoresis and by Sephadex gel filtration. Analysis of these components confirmed that the pectinic acid molecules contained long chains of esterified galacturonosyl residues, but showed in addition that more neutral portions containing a high proportion of arabinofuranose residues were attached to them. 4. The identification of rhamnose, galactose and xylose in aldobiouronic acids obtained from a partial hydrolysate of pectinic acid has shown that these sugars are covalently linked in the molecule, and it is suggested that the galacturonosyl-(1-->2)-rhamnose link is a general feature of pectinic acid structure. 5. The possible biological significance of pectinic acid structure has been discussed. 6. The arabinan-galactan complex contained nearly equal quantities of arabinose and galactose residues and some of its physical properties have been investigated.

SEPARATION OF AN ALPHA-GALACTOSIDASE FROM WATERMELON SEEDS

An α-galactosidase from watermelon seeds has been separated from invertase and β-galactosidase by ammonium sulphate precipitation followed by elution from a DEAE-cellulose column with phosphate buffers. This enzyme is capable of hydrolyzing galactose residues from melibiose, raffinose, and stachyose. The pH optimum with the three substrates is close to 4.2. The enzyme is inhibited by the products of the reaction, and, in the case of melibiose, by the substrate itself.

FLUID INTAKE PATTERNS OF 6-YEAR-OLD CHILDREN IN A NORTHERN FLUORIDATED COMMUNITY

The quantity of various fluids ingested in winter by 160 six-year-old children living in a northern climate (54 degrees N.) was surveyed as part of a study to determine whether the amount of dental decay was related to the amount of fluoridated water ingested. Only milk, water and fruit juices were found to be important sources of dietary fluid. Total fluids ingested ranged from 11.7 to 91.0 oz. per day, whereas milk intake varied from 3.1 to 52.0 oz. and water intake from 0 to 29.0 oz. per day. Twenty-four children did not drink water as such. The results, when compared with previous reports, indicate that a greater quantitative and qualitative variation in ingested fluids may occur in cool climates, possibly owing to the absence of a constant fluid demand imposed by evaporation for body cooling. Further elucidation of these differences could influence the vehicle and dosage of nutritional supplements to dietary fluids.