The British journal of nutrition
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Maslinic acid is found in various natural sources, most notably in pomace olive oil, and exerts pro-apoptotic activities in various cancer cells in vitro. In the present study, DU145 human prostate cancer cells were cultured with 0-25 μm-maslinic acid to examine the effects of maslinic acid on the metastatic capacity of prostate cancer cells. Maslinic acid significantly (P <0.05) inhibited the basal and epidermal growth factor (EGF)-induced migration (27-64 %), invasion (23-60 %) and adhesion (8-40 %) of DU145 cells. ⋯ The levels of phospho-Akt and phospho-extracellular signal-related kinase (ERK) were reduced in cells treated with maslinic acid, and the phosphoinositide 3-kinase inhibitor LY294002 and the mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase inhibitor PD98059 reduced HIF-1α levels and VEGF secretion. The results show that maslinic acid markedly inhibited the migration, invasion and adhesion of DU145 prostate cancer cells. Suppressing HIF-1α activation by inhibiting Akt and ERK activation may be part of the mechanism by which maslinic acid inhibited uPAR, E-cadherin, VEGF and MMP expression in DU145 cells.
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Weight loss leading to cachexia is associated with poor treatment response and reduced survival in pancreatic cancer patients. We aim to identify indicators that allow for early detection that will advance our understanding of cachexia and will support targeted anti-cachexia therapies. A total of fifty pancreatic cancer patients were analysed for skeletal muscle and visceral adipose tissue (VAT) changes using computed tomography (CT) scans. ⋯ In contrast, patients who were anaemic at the first CT scan lost significantly more muscle tissue and at accelerated rates compared with non-anaemic patients. Accelerated rates of VAT loss are associated with reduced survival. Identifying associated features of cachexia, such as diabetes and anaemia, is essential for the early detection of cachexia and may facilitate the attenuation of complications associated with cachexia.
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Assessment of body fat (BF) in pregnant women is important when investigating the relationship between maternal nutrition and offspring health. Convenient and accurate body composition methods applicable during pregnancy are therefore needed. Air displacement plethysmography, as applied in Bod Pod, represents such a method since it can assess body volume (BV) which, in combination with body weight, can be used to calculate body density and body composition. ⋯ The overestimation of TGV resulted in a small but significant (P = 0·043) overestimation of BF, equivalent to only 0·5 % BF, on average. A Bland-Altman analysis showed that the limits of agreement were narrow (from -1·9 to 2·9 % BF). Thus, although predicted TGV was biased and too high, the effect on BF was marginal and probably unimportant in many situations.
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Fe deficiency is still common in infancy, even in affluent societies, and has prompted Fe fortification of food products and use of Fe supplements in many populations. In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that Fe status among 9-month-old infants following the Danish Fe supplementation recommendation (>400 ml Fe-fortified formula or 8 mg Fe/d) is associated with more favourable levels of Fe status indicators compared to those not following the recommendation. A random sample of 9-month-old infants living in Copenhagen was established and 312 healthy term infants were examined at 9·1 (sd 0·3) months of age. ⋯ Serum ferritin levels were significantly higher (P < 0·0001) and transferrin receptor (TfR) was significantly lower (P = 0·003) among infants (n 188) meeting the Fe supplementation recommendation compared to those (n 67) not meeting the recommendation. No significant difference between these two groups was found for Hb. In conclusion, this study confirmed that Fe status of infants following the Danish Fe supplementation recommendation was significantly associated with increased serum ferritin and decreased levels of TfR indicating more favourable Fe status, compared to infants not following the recommendation.
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The aim of the present research was to study the prevalence and severity of vitamin D deficiency in patients with diabetic foot infection. Patients were enrolled in two groups: diabetic patients with foot infection (n 125) as cases and diabetic patients without the infection as controls (n 164). Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) was measured by RIA. ⋯ The study concluded that vitamin D deficiency was more prevalent and severe in patients with diabetic foot infection. This study opens up the issue of recognising severe vitamin D deficiency (< 25 nmol/l) as a possible risk factor for diabetic foot infections and the need for vitamin D supplementation in such patients for a better clinical outcome. This could be substantiated by similar data from future studies.