Calcium is an important integrative component of the human body and critical for human health. It has been well established that calcium intake is helpful in the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis, which has become one of the most serious public health problems across the world. However, community-dwelling adults with and without osteoporosis are rarely concerned or even not aware of the potential side effects of high or inappropriate doses of calcium intake. Some recent studies have revealed that excessive calcium intake might increase the risks of cardiovascular diseases. The purpose of this article was to review the health benefits, costs, and consequences of calcium supplementation on osteoporosis/osteoporotic fractures, cardiovascular events, kidney stones, gastrointestinal diseases, and other important diseases. In the end, we suggest that calcium supplementation should be prescribed and taken cautiously, accounting for individual patients’ risks and benefits. Clearly, further studies are needed to examine the health effects of calcium supplementation to make any solid recommendations for people of different genders, ages, and ethnicities.

Astragalus membranaceus is a Chinese medicinal herb and has been shown to improve hapten-induced experimental colitis. One of its major components is polysaccharides. We investigated the effect of Astragalus polysaccharides (APS) on expression of TNF-α, IL-1β and NFATc4 in a rat model of experimental colitis. The experimental colitis model was induced by TNBS. Forty five rats were divided into five groups (n=9): Normal control group, receiving ethanol vehicle with no TNBS during induction and IP saline injection during treatment; TNBS colitis model group (TNBS+IP saline), receiving only IP saline vehicle treatment; APS low dose group (TNBS+L-APS), receiving APS 100mg/kg; APS high dose group (TNBS+H-APS), receiving APS 200mg/kg; and positive control group (TNBS+Dexm), receiving dexamethasone 0.3mg/kg. The clinical features, macroscopic and microscopic scores were assessed. The expressions of TNF-α, IL-1β and NFATc4 were measured by real-time PCR and ELISA assays. Compared to normal control rats, TNBS+IP saline had significant weight loss, increased macroscopic and microscopic scores, higher disease activity index (DAI) up-regulation of TNF-α, IL-1β and NFATc4 mRNA expression and up-regulation of TNF-α and IL-1β protein expression. Compared to TNBS+IP saline, treatment with APS or dexamethasone significantly reduced DAI, partially but significantly prevented TNBS colitis-induced weight loss and improved both macroscopic and microscopic scores; high dose APS or dexamethasone significantly down-regulated TNF-α and IL-1β expressions (both mRNA and protein) and up-regulated NFATc4 mRNA and protein expression. The effect of high dose APS and dexamethasone is comparable. APS significantly improved experimental TNBS-induced colitis in rats through regulation of TNF-α, IL-1β and NFATc4 expression.

The purpose of this scoping review by the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (ASPEN) COVID‐19 Nutrition Taskforce was to examine nutrition research applicable to the COVID‐19 pandemic. The rapid pace of emerging scientific information and need for expeditious translation into clinical nutritional care prompted this activity to discover research/knowledge gaps. This methodology adhered with recommendations from the Joanna Briggs Institute. There were 2301 citations imported, 439 articles fully abstracted, with 23 main topic areas identified across 24 article types, sourced across 61 countries and 51 specialties, in eight settings, and amongst 14 populations. Epidemiological/mechanistic relationships between nutrition and COVID‐19 were reviewed, important topics catalogued, and results mapped to “Population, Intervention, Comparator, Outcome, and Time” (PICO‐T) questions. The aggregated data was analyzed by clinical stage: pre‐COVID‐19, acute COVID‐19, and chronic/post‐COVID‐19. Research gaps were discovered for all PICO‐T questions. Important nutrition topics meriting urgent research included: food insecurity/societal infrastructure and transcultural factors (Pre‐COVID‐19); cardiometabolic‐based chronic disease, pediatrics, nutrition support, and hospital infrastructure (Acute COVID‐19); registered dietitian nutritionist counseling (Chronic/Post‐COVID‐19); and malnutrition and management (All Stages). The paucity of randomized, control trials (RCTs) was particularly glaring. Knowledge gaps were discovered for PICO‐T questions on pediatrics, micronutrients, bariatric surgery, and transcultural factors (Pre‐COVID‐19); enteral nutrition, protein‐energy requirements, and glycemic control with nutrition (Acute COVID‐19); and home enteral and parenteral nutrition support (Chronic/Post‐COVID‐19). In conclusion, this ASPEN scoping review has identified multiple critical areas for urgent nutrition research, particularly using RCT design, to improve nutritional care for patients before, during, and after COVID‐19. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved

Bone degenerative disorders like osteoporosis may be initiated by age-related shifts in anabolic and catabolic responses that control bone homeostasis. Although there are studies suggesting that metabolic changes occur with stem cell differentiation, the molecular mechanisms governing energy metabolism and epigenetic modification are not understood fully. Here we reported the key role of nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase (Nampt), which is the rate-limiting enzyme in the salvage pathway of NAD biosynthesis from nicotinamide, in the osteogenic differentiation of bone marrow stromal cells. Differentiated bone marrow stromal cells isolated from Nampt +/− mice presented with diminished osteogenesis, as evaluated by alkaline phosphatase (ALP) staining, ALP activity and osteoblast-mediated mineralization, compared to cells from Nampt +/+ mice. Similar results were observed in differentiated Nampt-deficient C3H/10T1/2 and MC3T3-E1 cells. Further studies showed that Nampt promotes osteoblast differentiation through increased function and expression of Runx2 as tested by luciferase reporter assay, RT-PCR, and Western Blotting. Our data also demonstrated that Nampt regulates Runx2 transcription in part through epigenetic modification of H3-Lys9 acetylation. Our study demonstrated that Nampt plays a critical role in osteoblast differentiation through epigenetic augmentation of Runx2 transcription. NAMPT may be a potential therapeutic target of aging-related osteoporosis.