Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0235394 (wasting)
 8,040 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Cancer cachexia describes a syndrome of progressive weight loss, anorexia, and persistent erosion of host body cell mass in response to a malignant growth. Although often associated with preterminal patients bearing disseminated disease, cachexia may be present in the early stages of tumor growth before any signs or symptoms of malignancy. A decline in food intake relative to energy expenditure (which may be increased, normal, or decreased) is the fundamental physiologic derangement leading to cancer-associated weight loss. In addition, abnormalities of host carbohydrate, protein, and fat metabolism lead to continued mobilization and ineffective repletion of host tissue, despite adequate nutritional support. Mediators of cancer anorexia and associated abnormalities are unknown. Cachectin/TNF or other host-derived cytokines (produced as a defense against malignancy) have been implicated as signal molecules in cachexia, based upon similar metabolic derangements produced by these cytokines in other chronic wasting illnesses. Nutritional support is effective in maintaining body weight of cachectic cancer patients, but ineffective in maintaining lean body mass. Although in one study parenteral nutritional support has improved operative morbidity and mortality in cancer patients, it has not yet improved response to chemotherapy or radiation therapy. Because of metabolic derangements seen in cancer cachexia, effective nutritional treatment regimens will probably require manipulation of host intermediary metabolism in addition to feeding. Insulin therapy or exercise are two such methods which appear to preserve host composition by preferential feeding of the host at the expense of the tumor. Future studies which more clearly define the role of signal molecules in producing cancer cachexia syndrome may lead to new treatment strategies, possibly involving modulation of the effects of such molecules on host metabolism.
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PMID:Cancer cachexia. 329 98

Morphometric data on left ventricular papillary muscle structures have been determined in tumor-induced malnutrition and related to the maximum activities of key enzymes for energy production in the whole myocardium. Adult, nongrowing mice with a syngeneic sarcoma were used to represent a condition of cancer associated host tissue wasting. Hearts from mice 11 days after tumor implantation showed atrophy and a significantly reduced amount of myofibrillar, soluble, and collagen proteins than hearts from control animals. The cross-sectional area of myocardial cells was 33% smaller in tumor-bearing mice (p less than 0.025), but the total number of capillaries and the residual interstitial volume were similar in the two groups. The total number of subcellular structures per cell, such as mitochondria, myofibrils, and myosin filaments per myofiber, were significantly lower in the tumor-bearing animals (p less than 0.025). Conversely, the proportion of myofibrils was higher (p less than 0.05) in tumor-bearing animals while the proportion of mitochondria was lower. Maximum activities (Vmax) of selected regulatory key enzymes for energy production (glycogenolytic, glycolytic, and mitochondrial) were not significantly altered in hearts from tumor-bearing mice. The results support the conclusion that myocardial functional capacity is better preserved than overall structural components would imply in tumor-host associated malnutrition, which is probably secondary to deprived food intake. Teleologically, this may be a means by which functional deterioration of the heart is minimized during the induction of malnutrition.
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PMID:Ultrastructural changes and enzyme activities for energy production in hearts concomitant with tumor-associated malnutrition. 382 Oct 91

Estrogen-induced polydipsia was influenced by environmental conditions in which Marsh mice were housed in plastic cages with bedding or in metal cages having grilled floors and no bedding. Increases in this polydipsia with metal-cage housing were reversed upon return to plastic. The increases over controls as ml/kg body weight ranged from 40 to 250%. After an initial fall in food consumption following estrogenization, controls and estrogenized mice consumed nearly the same amount of food/mouse but 10% more for the estrogenized mice on a g/kg body-weight basis. Increased food consumption for controls and estrogenized mice following the change from plastic to metal cages was attributed to compensation for increased loss of body heat. Whether in plastic or metal cages, core temperatures of controls were higher than those of estrogenized mice; both groups had relatively higher temperatures in the metal cages. The older mice in metal cages developed a gnawing pattern wasting food. In five experiments with males, body-weight losses following estrogenization were maintained 43 to 70 days but recovered in 2 of 4 experiments with females under comparable conditions.
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PMID:Long-term estrogenization in mammals. II. Environmental influences of housing conditions upon estrogen-induced polydipsia and food intake in Marsh mice. 736 51

Neoplastic diseases are frequently associated with metabolic changes collectively known as cancer cachexia. The presence of cachexia complicates therapeutic intervention and is an important cause of death in cancer patients. At present there is no effective treatment for cachexia. Recently, the involvement of interleukin-6 (IL-6) in the wasting of colon-26 adenocarcinoma-bearing mice was demonstrated. The research presented here establishes an anticachectic role for the experimental drug suramin, since it partially blocks (up to 60%) the catabolic effects associated with the growth of this tumor in vivo. Suramin prevents the binding of IL-6 to its cell surface receptor subunits, as demonstrated by radioreceptor binding assay and affinity crosslinking experiments. Furthermore, the uptake of radioactive IL-6 by the liver is significantly reduced in suramin-treated mice. On the other hand, the drug is approximately 10-fold less potent in inhibiting the binding of tumor necrosis factor-alpha to indicator cell line in vitro and fails to block liver uptake of this cytokine in vivo. Collectively, these results suggest that suramin inhibits cancer-associated wasting, in part by interfering with the binding of IL-6 to its receptor. Whether suramin inhibits the action of other factors/cytokines that may also participate in colon-26-mediated cachexia is not yet known.
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PMID:Suramin interferes with interleukin-6 receptor binding in vitro and inhibits colon-26-mediated experimental cancer cachexia in vivo. 822 30

Cachexia--a wasting condition--seriously impairs the quality of life of patients with advanced cancer. Previous studies have shown that several inflammatory cytokines mediate the development of cancer-associated cachexia. Experimentally, cachexia-like symptoms can be induced in tumor-bearing mice and treatment of such mice with chemotherapeutic agents reverses cachexia as a result of its therapeutic action. Nonetheless, cancer chemotherapy occasionally induces anorexia as an adverse reaction. For example, treatment with antitubulin taxanes reduces body weight in tumor-bearing mice more than healthy mice, even when the agents significantly reduce tumor growth. However, the complex relationship between cancer cachexia and the effects of anticancer drugs remains to be elucidated. This review outlines what is known about the development of cachectic reactions, especially in tumor-bearing mice, that occur during treatment with anticancer agents and highlights the clinical relevance of the information.
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PMID:Anticancer drugs that induce cancer-associated cachectic syndromes. 1211 61

Sendai virus may induce acute respiratory tract disease in laboratory mice and is a common contaminant of biological materials. Pneumonia virus of mice (PVM) also infects the respiratory tract and, like Sendai virus, may induce a persistent wasting disease syndrome in immunodeficient mice. Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assays have proven useful for detection of Sendai virus and PVM immunodeficient animals and contaminated biomaterials. Fluorogenic nuclease RT-PCR assays (fnRT-PCR) combine RT-PCR with an internal fluorogenic hybridization probe, thereby potentially enhancing specificity and eliminating post-PCR processing. Therefore, fnRT-PCR assays specific for Sendai virus and PVM were developed by targeting primer andprobe sequences to unique regions of the Sendai virus nucleocapsid (NP) gene and the PVM attachment (G) gene, respectively. The Sendai virus and PVM fnRT-PCR assays detected only Sendai virusand PVM , respectively. Neither assay detected other viruses of the family Paramyxoviridae or other RNA viruses that naturally infect rodents. The fnRT-PCR assays detected as little as 10 fg of Sendai virus RNA and one picogram of PVM RNA, respectively, andthe Sendai virus fnRT-PCR assay had comparable sensitivity when directly compared with the mouse antibody production test. The fnRT-PCR assays were also able to detect viral RNA in respiratory tract tissues and cage swipe specimens collected from experimentally inoculated C.B-17 severe combined immunodeficient mice, but did not detect viral RNA in age- and strain-matched mock-infected mice. In conclusion, these fnRT-PCR assays offer potentially high-throughput diagnostic assays to detect Sendai virus and PVM in immunodeficient mice, and to detect Sendai virus in contaminated biological materials.
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PMID:Detection of sendai virus and pneumonia virus of mice by use of fluorogenic nuclease reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction analysis. 1278 51

A large body of evidence exists, which demonstrates the importance of nutritional support in cancer. The nutritional needs of patients with cancer may differ from those of the healthy population due to hypermetabolism, impaired organ function, increased nutrient losses and therapy-related malnutrition. Patients with cancer often have increased requirements for both macro- and micronutrients due to long periods of undernutrition prior to diagnosis. The aim of nutritional support should be the prevention or reversal of malnutrition, and this should be initiated as early as possible to improve outcomes. Oral supplementation is a simple, non-invasive method of increasing the nutrient intake of those patients who are unable to meet nutritional requirements, despite dietary counselling. Enteral tube feeding is indicated for patients who are unable to meet their nutritional needs by oral intake alone, and has been shown to improve clinical outcomes. Novel approaches in oral supplementation include the use of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), a compound under investigation for its role in preventing and treating cancer-associated malnutrition. Individual studies suggest that EPA attenuates cancer-associated wasting and improves immune function. In addition, it has been shown to have anti-tumour effects and improve clinical outcomes. However, results are not consistent for all patient groups and further research is required.
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PMID:Nutritional support strategies for malnourished cancer patients. 1643 60

Cancer metastases (spread to distant organs from the primary tumor site) signify systemic, progressive, and essentially incurable malignant disease. Anorexia and wasting develop continuously throughout the course of incurable cancer. Overall, in Westernized countries nearly exactly half of current cancer diagnoses end in cure and the other half end in death; thus, cancer-associated cachexia has a high prevalence. The pathophysiology of cancer-associated cachexia has two principal components: a failure of food intake and a systemic hypermetabolism/hypercatabolism syndrome. The superimposed metabolic changes result in a rate of depletion of physiological reserves of energy and protein that is greater than would be expected based on the prevailing level of food intake. These features indicate a need for nutritional support, metabolic management, and a clear appreciation of the context of life-limiting illness.
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PMID:Cancer-associated cachexia and underlying biological mechanisms. 1660 32

Intraosseous schwannomas or neurilemomas are rare benign neoplasms that account for less than 0.2% of primary bone tumours. Very rarely they have been observed in lumbar vertebrae. We report a neurilemoma involving the lower thoracic spine and present the clinical, radiological and histological findings with surgical management and 5-year follow-up. An 18-year-old-male presented with back pain and deteriorating locomotor function. Neurological examination revealed wasting of both calves and weakness in plantar flexion and dorsiflexion bilaterally. X-rays showed a D12 vertebral body abnormality with cystic changes and collapse of the body and pedicle. MRI showed a tumor occupying the D12 vertebrae with perivertibral protrusion compressing the thecal sac. Surgical decompression, excision and stabilisation with an extendable cage, bone graft and anterior rod system were achieved through a thoracolumbar approach. Histology results confirmed an intraosseous schwannoma with no remnants of an originating nerve. These tumors are rare but can be successfully treated with surgical excision and maintenance of spinal stability with recovery of neurological and functional change. Recurrence is uncommon.
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PMID:Intraosseous schwannoma of D12 thoracic vertebra: diagnosis and surgical management with 5-year follow-up. 1708 54

Every year, the number of discarded electro-electronic products is increasing. For this reason recycling is needed, to avoid wasting non-renewable natural resources. The objective of this work is to study the recycling of materials from parallel wire cable through unit operations of mineral processing. Parallel wire cables are basically composed of polymer and copper. The following unit operations were tested: grinding, size classification, dense medium separation, electrostatic separation, scrubbing, panning, and elutriation. It was observed that the operations used obtained copper and PVC concentrates with a low degree of cross contamination. It was concluded that total liberation of the materials was accomplished after grinding to less than 3 mm, using a cage mill. Separation using panning and elutriation presented the best results in terms of recovery and cross contamination.
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PMID:Electronic scraps--recovering of valuable materials from parallel wire cables. 1804 70


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