Clinical influence of neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy on immunonutritional status in locally advanced rectal cancer.

PURPOSE: Cancer patients receiving various anti-cancer treatments commonly experience malnutrition, and many studies have reported that nutritional status is associated with survival and prognosis. Although standard neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (CRT) is commonly used in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer owing to its tumor-downsizing and downstaging effects, there is a lack of research on the impact of patients' nutritional status on the efficacy of neoadjuvant CRT. METHODS: We investigated the immunonutritional markers before and after long-course neoadjuvant CRT in 131 patients diagnosed with locally advanced rectal cancer from March 2013 to March 2022. RESULTS: We divided the patients into two groups: a low prognostic nutritional index (PNI) with a cutoff value of 50.92, and a high PNI. In both groups, significant decreases in lymphocyte count and PNI and an increase in neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) were observed before and after CRT (P<0.001). Furthermore, a higher proportion of patients experienced adverse effects in the low PNI group than in the high PNI group (76.6% in low PNI vs. 54.8% in high PNI, P=0.013). The most commonly reported CRT-induced adverse effect was lower gastrointestinal tract toxicity. CONCLUSION: By measuring the PNI and NLR without additional tests prior to starting neoadjuvant CRT in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer, it is possible to predict the risk of acute adverse effects caused by CRT. Additionally, providing external nutritional support to reduce the immunonutritional changes that occur during CRT can decrease side effects and potentially increase treatment compliance.

Gene expression and functional characterization of serum amyloid P component 2 in rock bream, Oplegnathus fasciatus.

Mammalian serum amyloid P component (SAP) recognizes a wide range of exogenous pathogenic substances and activates a complementary pathway leading to pathogen clearance. To determine the potential roles of SAP in the fish immune system, SAP (RbSAP2) gene was cloned from ESTs analysis of rock bream (Oplegnathus fasciatus), which consisted of a signal peptide and pentraxin domain. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the RbSAP2 gene was classified with other known fish SAPs. RbSAP2 was highly expressed in the liver of healthy rock bream. Overall, pathogen exposure led to an induction of RbSAP2 in the liver and spleen, although this effect was not observed in the spleen following infection with Edwardsiella tarda. A high concentration of recombinant RbSAP2 (rRbSAP2) showed lower growth Streptococcus iniae than control in the absence of Ca(2+), whereas E. tarda growth was decreased by high concentration of rRbSAP in the presence of the Ca(2+). These results suggest that RbSAP plays an important role in the immune response against invading pathogens.