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There is increasing evidence about the role of inflammation in sarcopenia and tumor progression; thus, its modulation would represent a valuable strategy for improving clinical outcomes in patients with cancer. Several studies have reported that whey protein has significant anti-inflammatory and antioxidant characteristics in humans. We aimed to evaluate the effects of whey protein-based oral nutritional support on circulating cytokines in patients with solid tumors undergoing systemic treatment. Forty-six patients with solid tumors of different origin and undergoing systemic treatment were evaluated. Nutritional support with two daily whey protein-based oral supplements was administered. Circulating levels of IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, MCP-1 and IP-10 were determined. Nutritional evaluation included anthropometric, instrumental and biochemical parameters. Over 63% of the evaluated patients underwent surgery, 56.5% required chemotherapy and almost 50% received combined treatment. Patients with resected primary tumor presented with lower baseline IL-6 (p < 0.05) and IP-10 (p < 0.001); after three months of nutritional support, they presented with lower IL-8 (p < 0.05) and tended to present lower IL-6 and IP-10 (p = 0.053 and 0.067, respectively). Significant positive correlations between circulating cytokines, C-reactive protein and ferritin were observed; similarly, negative correlations with anthropometric and biochemical nutritional parameters were noticed (p < 0.05). We did not observe significant changes in circulating cytokine levels (IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, MCP-1 and IP-10) in patients with cancer undergoing systemic treatment after three months of nutritional support with whey protein-based oral supplements. According to a univariate analysis in our cohort, circulating IL-8 was associated with mortality in these patients, additionally, MCP-1 and IP-10 tended to correlate; but an age- and sex-adjusted multivariate analysis revealed that only baseline MCP-1 was significantly associated with mortality (OR 1.03 (95% CI: 1.00–1.05)). In conclusion, surgery of the primary solid tumor and combination treatment allow significant reduction in circulating cytokine levels, which remained stable while patients received nutritional support with whey protein-based oral supplements over three months. The role of MCP-1 as an independent factor for mortality in these patients should be further evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although malnutrition is frequently observed in patients with heart failure (HF), this diagnosis should be performed carefully since HF itself is associated with increased inflammatory activity, which affects body weight, functionality, and some nutritional parameters; thus, its isolated interpretation can erroneously identify surrogate markers of severity as markers of malnutrition. In this context, we aimed to evaluate the prevalence of malnutrition using different classification systems and perform a comprehensive nutritional evaluation to determine the reliability of different diagnostic techniques. Patients and methods: Eighty-three patients with a recent hospital admission due to HF were evaluated. GLIM diagnosis criteria and subjective global assessment (SGA) were performed; a comprehensive anthropometric, functional, and biochemical nutritional evaluation was performed, in which bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA), nutritional ultrasound, and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) were performed. Additionally, mortality and additional admissions due to HF were determined after a mean follow up of 18 months. Results: Malnutrition according to the GLIM criteria (54%) accurately distinguished patients with impaired functionality, lower lean mass, skeletal mass index, and appendicular muscle mass (BIA), as well as lower trunk fat mass, trunk lean mass, fat-free mass (DXA), and decreased albumin and increased C-reactive protein serum levels. According to SGA, there were significant changes in body composition parameters determined by BIA, muscle ultrasound, and functional tests between well-nourished patients and patients with risk of malnutrition (53.7%) or who had malnutrition (7.1%), but not when the last two groups were compared. BIA and DXA showed strong correlations when evaluating muscle and fat mass in HF patients, but correlations with nutritional ultrasound were limited, as well as functional tests. A multivariate analysis showed that no significant association was observed between body composition and mortality, but preperitoneal fat was associated with an increased risk of new hospital admissions (OR: 0.73). Conclusions: GLIM criteria identified a lower percentage of patients with HF and malnutrition compared with SGA; thus, SGA could have a role in preventing malnutrition in HF patients. Nutritional evaluation with BIA and DXA in patients with HF showed reliable results of body composition parameters in HF, and both help with the diagnosis of malnutrition according to the GLIM or SGA criteria and could provide complementary information in some specific cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Head and neck cancer (HNC) is a prevalent and aggressive form of cancer with high mortality rates and significant implications for nutritional status. Accurate assessment of malnutrition in patients with HNC is crucial for optimizing treatment outcomes and improving survival rates. This study aimed to evaluate the use of ultrasound techniques for predicting nutritional status, malnutrition, and cancer outcomes in patients with HNC. A total of 494 patients with HNC were included in this cross-sectional observational study. Various tools and body composition measurements, including muscle mass and adipose tissue ultrasound evaluations, were implemented. Using regression models, we mainly found that high levels of RF-CSA (rectus femoris cross-sectional area) were associated with a decreased risk of malnutrition (as defined with GLIM criteria (OR = 0.81, 95% CI: 0.68–0.98); as defined with PG-SGA (OR = 0.78, 95% CI: 0.62–0.98)) and sarcopenia (OR = 0.64, 95% CI: 0.49–0.82) after being adjusted for age, sex, and BMI. To predict the importance of muscle mass ultrasound variables on the risk of mortality, a nomogram, a random forest, and decision tree models were conducted. RF-CSA was the most important variable under the random forest model. The obtained C-index for the nomogram was 0.704, and the Brier score was 16.8. With an RF-CSA < 2.7 (AUC of 0.653 (0.59–0.77)) as a split, the decision tree model classified up to 68% of patients as possessing a high probability of survival. According to the cut-off value of 2.7 cm2, patients with a low RF-CSA value lower than 2.7 cm2 had worse survival rates (p < 0.001). The findings of this study highlight the importance of implementing ultrasound tools, for accurate diagnoses and monitoring of malnutrition in patients with HNC. Adipose tissue ultrasound measurements were only weakly associated with malnutrition and not with sarcopenia, indicating that muscle mass is a more important indicator of overall health and nutritional status. These results have the potential to improve survival rates and quality of life by enabling early intervention and personalized nutritional management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Malnutrition and sarcopenia frequently affect patients with heart failure (HF), in which clinical outcomes and survival is decreased. Thus, appropriate nutritional screening and early nutrition support are highly recommended. Currently, nutritional support is not a standard of care in patients with HF, and the use of commercially available oral supplements (OSs) could provide an additional benefit to medical treatment in these patients. Aim: To compare the effect of the Mediterranean diet in combination with hypercaloric, hyperproteic OS in patients with HF. Patients and methods: An open label, controlled clinical study in which patients were randomly assigned to receive a Mediterranean diet (control group) vs. hypercaloric, hyperproteic OS (intervention group) for twenty-four weeks. Thirty-eight patients were included; epidemiological, clinical, anthropometric, ultrasound (muscle echography of the rectus femoris muscle of the quadriceps and abdominal adipose tissue), and biochemical evaluations were performed. All patients received additional supplementation with vitamin D. Results: Baseline malnutrition according to the GLIM criteria was observed in 30% of patients, while 65.8% presented with sarcopenia. Body cell mass, lean mass, and body mass increased in the intervention group (absolute increase of 0.5, p = 0.03, 1.2 kg, p = 0.03, and 0.1 kg, p = 0.03 respectively). In contrast, fat mass increased in the control group (4.5 kg, p = 0.05). According to the RF ultrasound, adipose tissue, muscle area, and circumference tended to decrease in the intervention group; it is probable that 24 weeks was too short a period of time for evaluating changes in muscle area or circumference, as previously observed in another group of patients. In contrast, functionality, determined by the up-and-go test, significantly improved in all patients (difference 12.6 s, p < 0.001), including the control (10 s improvement, p < 0.001) and the intervention group (improvement of 8.9 s, p < 0.001). Self-reported QoL significantly increased in all groups, from 68.7 ± 22.2 at baseline to 77.7 ± 18.7 (p = 0.01). When heart functionality was evaluated, LVEF increased in the whole cohort (38.7 ± 16.6 vs. 42.2 ± 8.9, p < 0.01); this increase was higher in the intervention group (34.2 ± 16.1 at baseline vs. 45.0% ± 17.0 after 24 weeks, p < 0.05). Serum values of NT-proBNP also significantly decreased in the whole cohort (p < 0.01), especially in the intervention group (p = 0.02). After adjusting by age and sex, nutritional support, baseline LVEF, NT-proBNP, and body composition parameters of functionality tests were not associated with mortality or new hospital admissions in this cohort. Conclusion: Nutritional support with hypercaloric, hyperproteic OS, Mediterranean diet, and vitamin D supplementation were associated with decreased NT-proBNP and improvements in LVEF, functionality, and quality of life in patients with HF, despite a significant decrease in hospital admissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

(1) Background: Malnutrition frequently affects patients with cancer, and it negatively impacts treatment tolerance, clinical outcomes and survival. Thus, appropriate nutritional screening and early nutrition support are extremely recommended. Currently, a significant number of oral supplements (OS) are commercially available; despite this, there is a lack of evidence for recommending specific OS, including leucine-enriched OS, for nutritional support in patients with cancer. (2) Aim: To compare the clinical evolution of patients with cancer (undergoing systemic treatment) that received standard hypercaloric, whey protein-based hyperproteic oral supplements vs. hypercaloric, hyperproteic leucine-enriched OS using a novel morphofunctional nutritional evaluation. (3) Patients and methods: This paper details an open-label, controlled clinical study in which patients were randomly assigned to receive nutritional treatment with whey protein-based hyperproteic oral supplements (control group) vs. hypercaloric, hyperproteic leucine-enriched OS (intervention group) during a twelve-week period. Forty-six patients were included; epidemiological, clinical, anthropometric, ultrasound (muscle echography of the rectus femoris muscle of the quadriceps and abdominal adipose tissue) and biochemical evaluation were performed. All patients received additional supplementation with vitamin D. (4) Results: Nutritional parameters (including bioimpedance, anthropometric, ultrasound and biochemical variables) of all included patients remained stable after the nutritional intervention. Extracellular mass tended to increase in the patients that received the leucine-enriched formula. Functionality (evaluated through the stand-up test) improved in both groups (p < 0.001). Prealbumin, transferrin levels and superficial adipose tissue increased in the control group (p < 0.05), while self-reported quality of life improved in all the evaluated patients (p < 0.001). (5) Conclusions: Nutritional support with hypercaloric, hyperproteic (with whey protein) OS and vitamin D supplementation were associated with the maintenance of body composition and improvements in functionality and in quality of life in the patients with cancer undergoing systemic treatment. No significant benefits were observed when a leucine-enriched formula was used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The insulinoma is the most common pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor. Surgery is curative in most cases, an appropriate preoperative localization allows a minimal invasive surgical technique for keeping the exo and endocrine function of the pancreas. Some authors suggest the use of invasive localization techniques just in cases with non-identified tumor lesion, others recommend their routinely use. We describe a case with clinical and biochemical diagnosis of insulinoma, conventional image studies revealed a tumor image in the pancreas which corresponded to a lipoma, the intraoperative ultrasound allowed the localization of the real tumor, but body-tail pancreatectomy was performed due to pancreatic necrosis in relation with the duration of the surgery. The systematic use of invasive localization techniques as the intra-arterial calcium stimulation and the pancreatic intraoperative ultrasound would allow a better localization of insulinoma for avoiding complications and associated morbidity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Malnutrition and sarcopenia are highly prevalent in patients with head neck cancer (HNC). An accurate early diagnosis is necessary for starting nutritional support, as both are clearly associated with clinical outcomes and mortality. We aimed to evaluate the applicability and accuracy of body composition analysis using electrical bioimpedance vectorial analysis (BIVA) for diagnosing malnutrition and sarcopenia in patients with HNC cancer undergoing systemic treatment with chemotherapy or radiotherapy., Methods: Cross-sectional, observational study that included 509 HNC patients. A comprehensive nutritional evaluation that included BIVA was performed., Results: The prevalence of malnutrition was higher in patients that received treatment with chemotherapy (59.2% vs. 40.8%, P < 0.001); increased mortality was observed in malnourished patients (33.3% vs. 20.1%; P < 0.001); ECOG status (1-4) was also worse in malnourished patients (59.2% vs. 22.8% P < 0.001). Body cell mass (BCM) and fat mass were the most significantly associated parameters with malnutrition [OR 0.88 (0.84-0.93) and 0.98 (0.95-1.01), respectively]; BCM and fat free mass index (FFMI) were associated with several aspects including (1) the patient-generated subjective global assessment [OR 0.93 (0.84-0.98) and 0.86 (0.76-0.97), respectively], (2) the presence of sarcopenia [OR 0.81 (0.76-0.87) and 0.78 (0.66-0.92), respectively]. A BCM index (BCMI) < 7.8 in combination with other parameters including FFMI and BCM accurately predicted patients with malnutrition [accuracy 95% CI: 0.803 (0.763-0.839); kappa index: 0.486; AUC: 0.618 (P < 0.01)]. A BCMI cutoff of 7.6 was enough for identifying males with malnutrition (P < 0.001), while it should be combined with other parameters in females., Conclusions: Body composition parameters determined by BIVA accurately identify patients with HNC and malnutrition. Phase angle, but other parameters including BCMI, FFMI and BCM provide significant information about nutritional status in patients with HNC., (© 2024 The Author(s). Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Background: Malnutrition and sarcopenia frequently affect patients with heart failure (HF), in which clinical outcomes and survival is decreased. Thus, appropriate nutritional screening and early nutrition support are highly recommended. Currently, nutritional support is not a standard of care in patients with HF, and the use of commercially available oral supplements (OSs) could provide an additional benefit to medical treatment in these patients., Aim: To compare the effect of the Mediterranean diet in combination with hypercaloric, hyperproteic OS in patients with HF., Patients and Methods: An open label, controlled clinical study in which patients were randomly assigned to receive a Mediterranean diet (control group) vs. hypercaloric, hyperproteic OS (intervention group) for twenty-four weeks. Thirty-eight patients were included; epidemiological, clinical, anthropometric, ultrasound (muscle echography of the rectus femoris muscle of the quadriceps and abdominal adipose tissue), and biochemical evaluations were performed. All patients received additional supplementation with vitamin D., Results: Baseline malnutrition according to the GLIM criteria was observed in 30% of patients, while 65.8% presented with sarcopenia. Body cell mass, lean mass, and body mass increased in the intervention group (absolute increase of 0.5, p = 0.03, 1.2 kg, p = 0.03, and 0.1 kg, p = 0.03 respectively). In contrast, fat mass increased in the control group (4.5 kg, p = 0.05). According to the RF ultrasound, adipose tissue, muscle area, and circumference tended to decrease in the intervention group; it is probable that 24 weeks was too short a period of time for evaluating changes in muscle area or circumference, as previously observed in another group of patients. In contrast, functionality, determined by the up-and-go test, significantly improved in all patients (difference 12.6 s, p < 0.001), including the control (10 s improvement, p < 0.001) and the intervention group (improvement of 8.9 s, p < 0.001). Self-reported QoL significantly increased in all groups, from 68.7 ± 22.2 at baseline to 77.7 ± 18.7 ( p = 0.01). When heart functionality was evaluated, LVEF increased in the whole cohort (38.7 ± 16.6 vs. 42.2 ± 8.9, p < 0.01); this increase was higher in the intervention group (34.2 ± 16.1 at baseline vs. 45.0% ± 17.0 after 24 weeks, p < 0.05). Serum values of NT-proBNP also significantly decreased in the whole cohort ( p < 0.01), especially in the intervention group ( p = 0.02). After adjusting by age and sex, nutritional support, baseline LVEF, NT-proBNP, and body composition parameters of functionality tests were not associated with mortality or new hospital admissions in this cohort., Conclusion: Nutritional support with hypercaloric, hyperproteic OS, Mediterranean diet, and vitamin D supplementation were associated with decreased NT-proBNP and improvements in LVEF, functionality, and quality of life in patients with HF, despite a significant decrease in hospital admissions.

The insulinoma is the most common pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor. Surgery is curative in most cases, an appropriate preoperative localization allows a minimal invasive surgical technique for keeping the exo and endocrine function of the pancreas. Some authors suggest the use of invasive localization techniques just in cases with non-identified tumor lesion, others recommend their routinely use. We describe a case with clinical and biochemical diagnosis of insulinoma, conventional image studies revealed a tumor image in the pancreas which corresponded to a lipoma, the intraoperative ultrasound allowed the localization of the real tumor, but body-tail pancreatectomy was performed due to pancreatic necrosis in relation with the duration of the surgery. The systematic use of invasive localization techniques as the intra-arterial calcium stimulation and the pancreatic intraoperative ultrasound would allow a better localization of insulinoma for avoiding complications and associated morbidity., (Copyright AULA MEDICA EDICIONES 2014. Published by AULA MEDICA. All rights reserved.)

Unlabelled: Glutamine is an essential amino acid for nucleotide synthesis and an important energy resource for cellular division. There is contradictory evidence about its benefits as part of parenteral nutrition. More than 75% of bone marrow transplant patients (BMTP) have, during their evolution, digestive tract complications limiting enteral nutrition, for this reason, sometimes total parenteral nutrition (TPN) is required., Objective: Our aim was to analyze the relation between the use of glutamine in TPN of BMTP, and the evolution of clinical acute complications as mucositis, graft versus host disease (GVHD) and infections days of stay and days of TPN., Materials and Methods: observational retrospective study. All BMTP with total parenteral nutrition during the period 2007-2013 were included. We analyzed days of stay, days of nutrition, glutamine use and acute complications. Results were analyzed in SPSS 15.0., Results: 73 BMTP were divided in two comparable groups depending on glutamine use. The mean age was 36,96 ± 12,89 years. 47,9% of patients received glutamine in TPN. Patients who received glutamine had a mean stay of 31,49±7,41 days with 14,11±5,87 days of TPN compared with the non-glutamine group with 32,16±7,99 and 15,50±7,71 days respectively (p=0,71 y 0,39). Mucositis lasted 12,23±5,66 days in the glutamine group, and 15,50±7,71 days in the non-glutamine group (p=0,042). Severe grades of GVHD (II,III) was observed in 20,6% of the non glutamine group compared with the 13,7% of the other group (p=0,636). In patients with glutamine suplementation, mucositis last 12,23±5,66 days compared with 15,50±7,71 days in the non-glutamine group (p=0,042).13,7% of all patients suffered infections while receiving TPN with glutamine compared with 16,4% in patients who did not receive glutamine (p=0,700)., Conclusion: In our group, a statistically significant reduction in the duration of mucositis was observed in patients who received parenteral glutamine., (Copyright AULA MEDICA EDICIONES 2014. Published by AULA MEDICA. All rights reserved.)

to be more frequent among patients with metabolic syndrome. Previous studies have suggested to perform a routine screening for CS in obese patients; however, more recent reports only recommend a case-finding approach in patients with uncontrolled diabetes and hypertension, despite appropriate treatment. Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of unsuspected CS in morbidly obese patients in an outpatient’s clinic. Patients and methods: Retrospective case-note study. We reviewed the medical records of morbidly obese patients referred to our clinic prior to bariatric surgery between january 2001 and december 2011. All patients had a complete medical history including physical examination, and 399 underwent screening for CS as part of our pre-surgical protocol. As screening for autonomous cortisol secretion, we performed an overnight 1 mg Dexamethasone Suppression Test (DST). Serum cortisol < 1.8 μg/dl was the cut-off point for normal suppression. Results: 399 patients (308 female; mean age 41.9 ± 10.5 years; mean BMI 51.5 ± 8.4 kg/m2). In the retrospective analysis, prediabetes and diabetes mellitus were observed in 10.3% and 27.8% respectively. In 21 of 399 patients, screening was considered to be abnormal. Eight of these 21 patients had subsequent normal 24h Urinary Free Cortisol (UFC) levels (150 μg/24h). In 13 of 20 patients, we repeated an overnight 1mg DST, on suspicion of failing to take the dexamethasone correctly. Three patients failed to suppress their cortisol levels, two of them were on carbamazepine, which was considered to be a false positive result. The other patient with abnormal UFC levels was diagnosed with CS (0.26%), whose cause was a pituitary microadenoma. Conclusion: A low proportion of patients with morbid obesity were found to have CS. Our findings suggest that morbidly obese patients should not be routinely screened for CS., (Copyright AULA MEDICA EDICIONES 2014. Published by AULA MEDICA. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To assess the efficacy of intermittent, high-dose treatment with intravenous glucocorticoids (IV GCs) in moderate to severe Graves' ophthalmopathy (GO)., Materials and Methods: Patients with GO treated with IV GCs from August 2007 to August 2011 at the Endocrinology Department of Reina Sofía Hospital were enrolled into the study. IV pulse prednisolone (7.5 mg/kg/day) was administered twice weekly every two weeks for 6 weeks, and at half the dose for 6 additional weeks., Results: Eighteen patients (mean age, 43 ± 11 years) with moderate to severe GO were analyzed (83.3% females). Four were active smokers, five former smokers, and the rest had never smoked. Hyperthyroidism due to Graves' disease was found in 66.7% of patients, 41.6% of whom had received radioiodine therapy. Response to treatment was satisfactory in 72.2%, partial in 11.1%, and poor in 16.7%. Mild side effects were reported by 5 patients. Before treatment, 83.3% had diplopia, 33.3% eyelid retraction, 72.2% eye pain, and 44.4% exophthalmos. After treatment, only 33.3% had diplopia (P=.004), 5.6% eyelid retraction (P=.063), 16.7% eye pain (P=.002), and 11.1% exophthalmos (P=.031). Response to treatment was not related to the underlying disease (P=.866), prior radioiodine treatment (P=.447), or smoking status (P=.368)., Conclusions: Intravenous glucocorticoid therapy decreased activity in patients with moderate to severe active GO, with major improvement occurring in diplopia, eye pain, and exophthalmos. Side effects were mild and uncommon. Treatment response was independent from the underlying disease, prior radioiodine treatment, or smoking status., (Copyright © 2012 SEEN. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.)