AIWW: a new nutrition-screening tool for the oncologic population.

Malnutrition is a common comorbidity among patients with cancer. However, no nutrition-screening tool has been recognized in this population. A quick and easy screening tool for nutrition with high sensitivity and easy-to-use is needed. Based on the previous 25 nutrition-screening tools, the Delphi method was made by the members of the Chinese Society of Nutritional Oncology to choose the most useful item from each category. According to these results, we built a nutrition-screening tool named age, intake, weight, and walking (AIWW). Malnutrition was defined based on the scored patient-generated subjective global assessment (PG-SGA). Concurrent validity was evaluated using the Kendall tau coefficient and kappa consistency between the malnutrition risks of AIWW, nutritional risk screening 2002 (NRS-2002), and malnutrition screening tool (MST). Clinical benefit was calculated by the decision curve analysis (DCA), integrated discrimination improvement (IDI), and continuous net reclassification improvement (cNRI). A total of 11,360 patients (male, n=6,024 (53.0%) were included in the final study cohort, and 6,363 patients had malnutrition based on PG-SGA. Based on AIWW, NRS-2002, and MST, 7,545, 3,469, and 1,840 patients were at risk of malnutrition, respectively. The sensitivities of AIWW, NRS-2002, and MST risks were 0.910, 0.531, and 0.285, and the specificities were 0.768, 0.946, and 0.975. The Kendall tau coefficients of AIWW, NRS-2002, and MST risks were 0.588, 0.501, and 0.326, respectively. The area under the curve of AIWW, NRS-2002, and MST risks were 0.785, 0.739, and 0.630, respectively. The IDI, cNRI, and DCA showed that AIWW is non-inferior to NRS-2002 (IDI: 0.002 (-0.009, 0.013), cNRI: -0.015 (-0.049, 0.020)). AIWW scores can also predict the survival of patients with cancer. The missed diagnosis rates of AIWW, NRS-2002, and MST were 0.09%, 49.0%, and 73.2%, respectively. AIWW showed a better nutrition-screening effect than NRS-2002 and MST for patients with cancer and could be recommended as an alternative nutrition-screening tool for this population.

Vitamin D/Vitamin D Receptor Signaling Attenuates Skeletal Muscle Atrophy by Suppressing Renin-Angiotensin System.

The nutritional level of vitamin D may affect musculoskeletal health. We have reported that vitamin D is a pivotal protector against tissue injuries by suppressing local renin-angiotensin system (RAS). This study aimed to explore the role of the vitamin D receptor (VDR) in the protection against muscle atrophy and the underlying mechanism. A cross-sectional study on participants (n = 1034) in Shanghai (China) was performed to analyze the association between vitamin D level and the risk of low muscle strength as well as to detect the circulating level of angiotensin II (Ang II). In animal studies, dexamethasone (Dex) was applied to induce muscle atrophy in wild-type (WT) and VDR-null mice, and the mice with the induction of muscle atrophy were treated with calcitriol for 10 days. The skeletal muscle cell line C2C12 and the muscle satellite cells were applied in in vitro studies. The increased risk of low muscle strength was correlated to a lower level of vitamin D (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 0.58) accompanied by an elevation in serum Ang II level. Ang II impaired the myogenic differentiation of C2C12 myoblasts as illustrated by the decrease in the area of myotubes and the downregulation of myogenic factors (myosin heavy chain [MHC] and myogenic differentiation factor D [MyoD]). The phenotype of muscle atrophy induced by Dex and Ang II was aggravated by VDR ablation in mice and in muscle satellite cells, respectively, and mediated by RAS and its downstream phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/protein kinase B/forkhead box O1 (PI3K/Akt/FOXO1) signaling. Calcitriol treatment exhibited beneficial effects on muscle function as demonstrated by the increased weight-loaded swimming time, grip strength, and fiber area, and improved fiber type composition via regulating ubiquitin ligases and their substrates MHC and MyoD through suppressing renin/Ang II axis. Taken together, VDR protects against skeletal muscle atrophy by suppressing RAS. Vitamin D could be a potential agent for the prevention and treatment of skeletal muscle atrophy. © 2021 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR).

Association between Body Mass Index and All-Cause Mortality in Hypertensive Adults: Results from the China Stroke Primary Prevention Trial (CSPPT).

The association between elevated body mass index (BMI) and risk of death has been reported in many studies. However, the association between BMI and all-cause mortality for hypertensive Chinese adults remains unclear. We conducted a post-hoc analysis using data from the China Stroke Primary Prevention Trial (CSPPT). Cox regression analysis was performed to determine the significance of the association of BMI with all-cause mortality. During a mean follow-up duration of 4.5 years, 622 deaths (3.0%) occurred among the 20,694 participants aged 45-75 years. A reversed J-shaped relationship was observed between BMI and all-cause mortality. The hazard ratios (HRs) for underweight (<18.5 kg/m²), overweight (24.0-27.9 kg/m²), and obesity (≥28.0 kg/m²) were calculated relative to normal weight (18.5-23.9 kg/m²). The summary HRs were 1.56 (95% CI, 1.11-2.18) for underweight, 0.78 (95% CI 0.64-0.95) for overweight and 0.64 (95% CI, 0.48-0.85) for obesity. In sex-age-specific analyses, participants over 60 years of age had optimal BMI in the obesity classification and the results were consistent in both males and females. Relative to normal weight, underweight was associated with significantly higher mortality. Excessive weight was not associated with increased risk of mortality. Chinese hypertensive adults had the lowest mortality in grade 1 obesity.

Factors underlying the association of body mass index with serum ALT in Chinese hypertensive adults without known hepatic diseases.

OBJECTIVE: High body mass index (BMI) is considered as the most important risk factor for elevated serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) concentration. This study examined an array of factors, including waist circumference (WC) and folate deficiency, which may mediate the association of BMI with serum ALT concentration in Chinese hypertensive adults without known hepatic diseases. METHODS: A multicenter, cross-sectional study was carried out. A total of 378 patients with mild or moderate hypertension and without known hepatic diseases were recruited from five hospitals in Harbin, Shanghai, Beijing, Xi'an, and Nanjing. RESULTS: Of the 360 hypertensive patients with complete data in our final analysis, 13.6% had high ALT concentrations (>40 IU/L). Factors including BMI, WC, triglyceride level, and folate concentration were associated with ALT concentration in univariate analysis. Consistently higher prevalence rates of elevated ALT were observed in subjects with lower folate concentrations (≥12 vs. <12 nmol/L, 9.9% vs. 17.8%, P=0.03), with higher BMI (≥28 vs. <28 kg/m(2), 21.5% vs. 11.4%, P=0.02) or higher WC (≥90 vs. <90 cm, 18.5% vs. 10.0%, P=0.02). However, in multivariate analysis, the association between BMI and ALT concentration disappeared (P=0.802 in males and 0.369 in females), while WC in females (P<0.001) and folate concentration (P=0.036 in males and 0.044 in females) remained as significant predictors for ALT concentration. CONCLUSIONS: This multicenter study demonstrated that WC and low folate concentration were important factors underlying the association between BMI and ALT concentrations in Chinese hypertensive adults without known hepatic diseases.

[Amlodipine combined with terazosin reduces postvoid residual and the risk of acute urinary retention].

OBJECTIVE: This prospective randomized double-blinded clinical trial was designed to explore the effects of amlodipine and the combination of amlodipine with terazosin in improving postvoid residual (PVR) in patients with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) and concomitant hypertension. METHODS: We randomly divided 360 LUTS patients with concomitant hypertension into a 5 mg amlodipine group, a 2 mg terazosin group and a 5 mg amlodipine plus 2 mg terazosin group, and measured PVR at the baseline and 4 weeks after the treatment. RESULTS: For male patients with LUTS associate with hypertension, all of amlodipine (APVR = 6.8) , terazosin (APVR = 7. 6), and combination group (APVR = 8.8) can significant reduced the PVR (P < . 0.1), but no significant difference was found among three groups. CONCLUSION: Amlodipine alone or combined with terazosin can improve the PVR of the LUTS patient effectively, but had no significant difference compared with terazosin.

[Efficacy of enalapril combined with folic acid in lowering blood pressure and plasma homocysteine level].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the efficacy of enalapril combined with folic acid in lowering both blood pressure and plasma total homocysteine (Hcy) in essential hypertensive patients. METHODS: A randomized, community-based clinical trial was conducted. Subjects with hypertension were randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups:enalapril 10 mg/d alone (control), enalapril 10 mg plus folic acid 0.4 mg daily (low-dose group) and enalapril 10 mg combined with folic acid 0.8 mg daily (high-dose group) for a total of 8 weeks. Resting blood pressures of all subjects was measured at baseline, 2nd, 4th, 6th and 8th week of therapy. Plasma Hcy levels were measured at baseline, 4 week and the end of study. RESULTS: A total of 273 hypertensive patients were enrolled. All analyses were performed according to the intention to treat. Compared with control group, both low- and high-dose group had significantly a greater efficacy in lowering both blood pressure and plasma Hcy level, or in lowering either blood pressure or plasma Hcy level, or in lowering Hcy level. The proportion of subjects showing a marked reduction in both blood pressure and plasma homocysteine in control group, low-dose group and high-dose group were 3.8%, 15.2% and 17.1% respectively; the proportion of subjects showing a marked reduction in either blood pressure or plasma homocysteine in control group, low-dose group and high-dose group were 43.8%, 70.9% and 58.5% respectively. Effect upon blood pressure lowering was not significantly different among these three regimens. CONCLUSION: As compared to enalapril alone, enalapril combined with folic acid showed a better efficacy in reducing both blood pressure and plasma Hcy level in hypertensive subjects.