0238 Campus Food Pantry Assistance is Related to Better Physical And Mental Health Through Adequate Sleep Among College Students in a Public University System

Introduction

Food insecurity is an issue among students in higher education and has been linked to insufficient sleep, and poor mental and general health. College campuses have quickly responded by establishing campus food pantries. However, the extent to which campus food pantries are ameliorating the impacts of food insecurity is unknown.

Methods

Online survey data were collected from a cross-sectional sample of 1,855 students who were food pantry users in the 10-campus UC system. Students were asked to report their number of visits to a food pantry in the past month, and to rate their general health, depressive symptoms, and number of days of enough sleep (in a week) before and after food pantry access. Changes in days of enough sleep, depressive symptoms and general health were computed. Demographic characteristics were obtained from institutional data. Path analysis was used to examine direct and indirect pathways from food pantry use to depressive symptoms and general health through enough sleep days, controlling for workstudy receipt, Pell grant receipt and family income.

Results

Students on average were 21.7 years old (SD= 3.5), and had more days of adequate sleep (25%), and improved depressive symptoms (43%) and general health (31%) after obtaining services from a campus food pantry. An increase in monthly food pantry use was directly related to a decrease in depressive symptoms (β= 0.08, p<0.001) and an increase in general health (β= 0.07, p=0.001). Additionally, an increase in food pantry use related to an increase in getting more days of enough sleep (β=0.07, p=0.001), which in turn positively related to a decrease in depressive symptoms (β=0.18, p<0.001) and improved general health (β=0.24, p<0.001).

Conclusion

Food pantry use had a positive relationship with student health outcomes, and enough sleep days played an important mediating role. Findings suggest that emergency food access may have a positive impact on student health outcomes.

Support

This study was funded by the UC Campus Basic Needs Committees.

Angiotensin-I converting enzyme genotype DD is a risk factor for coronary artery disease

BACKGROUND

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a polygenic disease whose phenotypic manifestation is due to interaction of a number of environmental factors with an underlying genetic background. A number of genes, including the angiotensin-I converting enzyme (ACE) gene, have been implicated in the pathogenesis of CAD. ACE can affect oxidation of LDL, endothelial cell function, and smooth muscle cell migration and proliferation: all important components of atherosclerosis. A variant of ACE gene, genotype DD is associated with a higher plasma level of ACE and an increased risk of myocardial infarction, and cardiomyopathies. In this study, we sought to determine the distribution of ACE genotypes and the frequency of allele D in patients with CAD undergoing coronary angioplasty.

METHODS

DNA from 182 white patients undergoing coronary angioplasty and 338 apparently healthy white individuals was amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in the region of the polymorphism using the previously published protocol.

RESULTS

PCR amplification of alleles I and D resulted in 490 bp and 190 bp products, respectively. ACE genotype DD was present in 47% of patients with CAD as compared to 30% in the general population (p = 0.0002, Odds ratio 2.7). The frequency of allele D was 0.68 in patients with CAD and 0.55 in general population, respectively (p < 0.0001). Genotype DD was associated with CAD only in males (54% vs. 30%, p = 0.0001, Odds ratio 2.0), but not in female patients. There was no association between the frequency of ACE genotype DD and the prior history of myocardial infarction, or the extent of CAD. The frequency of ACE genotype DD was the highest among patients with restenosis following angioplasty (55%), however, the difference was not significantly changed as compared to those without restenosis (40%).

CONCLUSIONS

ACE genotype DD is more common in patients with CAD as compared to the general population, indicating that genotype DD is a genetic risk factor for CAD.

Evaluation of tests for predicting the viability of axial pattern skin flaps in the pig

The viability of axial pattern skin flaps in pigs was assessed by the use of intravenous fluorescein, intradermal injection of 133Xe in saline, intravenous 51Cr tagged red cells, and angiography. The results were correlated with flap survival at 4 days postoperatively. Intravenous fluorescein provided the most accurate method for prediction of viable tissue at the time of operation. There was no evidence of vascular perfusion in the distal portions of these flaps. These axial pattern flaps differed in their viability from similar flaps in humans, and anastomoses between discrete vascular territories were infrequent in pigskin.