The association between meat consumption and the metabolic syndrome: a cross-sectional study and meta-analysis.

The findings regarding the associations between red meat, fish and poultry consumption, and the metabolic syndrome (Mets) have been inconclusive, and evidence from Chinese populations is scarce. A cross-sectional study was performed to investigate the associations between red meat, fish and poultry consumption, and the prevalence of the Mets and its components among the residents of Suzhou Industrial Park, Suzhou, China. A total of 4424 participants were eligible for the analysis. A logistic regression model was used to estimate the OR and 95 % CI for the prevalence of the Mets and its components according to red meat, fish and poultry consumption. In addition, the data of our cross-sectional study were meta-analysed under a random effects model along with those of published observational studies to generate the summary relative risks (RR) of the associations between the highest v. lowest categories of red meat, fish and poultry consumption and the Mets and its components. In the cross-sectional study, the multivariable-adjusted OR for the highest v. lowest quartiles of consumption was 1·23 (95 % CI 1·02, 1·48) for red meat, 0·83 (95 % CI 0·72, 0·97) for fish and 0·93 (95 % CI 0·74, 1·18) for poultry. In the meta-analysis, the pooled RR for the highest v. lowest categories of consumption was 1·20 (95 % CI 1·06, 1·35) for red meat, 0·88 (95 % CI 0·81, 0·96) for fish and 0·97 (95 % CI 0·85, 1·10) for poultry. The findings of both cross-sectional studies and meta-analyses indicated that the association between fish consumption and the Mets may be partly driven by the inverse association of fish consumption with elevated TAG and reduced HDL-cholesterol and, to a lesser extent, fasting plasma glucose. No clear pattern of associations was observed between red meat or poultry consumption and the components of the Mets. The current findings add weight to the evidence that the Mets may be positively associated with red meat consumption, inversely associated with fish consumption and neutrally associated with poultry consumption.

The Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index as a Prognostic Factor in Patients with Advanced Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer.

The Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index (GNRI) is widely applied as a prognostic factor in different cancers. We aimed to analyze the prognostic value of the GNRI in 257 patients diagnosed with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Patients with GNRI >98, 92-98, and <92 were grouped into normal, low risk and moderate/high risk groups, respectively. There were 45.1% patients at risk for malnutrition. Kaplan-Meier survival curves indicated that patients with lower GNRI scores had a poorer overall survival (OS). Two-year OS for normal, low risk and moderate/high risk groups were 57.4%, 42.3% and 15.8%, respectively. In multivariate survival analysis, GNRI (<92), body mass index (BMI, ≥24 kg/m2), combined therapy, hemoglobin and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) were independent prognostic factors of OS. Stratifying by age groups, GNRI (<92), hemoglobin and NLR were independent prognostic factors of OS in patients aged <65 years. GNRI (<92), smoking, BMI (≥24 kg/m2) and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio were independent prognostic factors of OS in patients aged ≥65 years. In conclusion, GNRI was a significant prognostic factor in advanced NSCLC patients regardless of age. A decreased GNRI may be considered as a clinical trigger for nutritional support in advanced NSCLC patients, though additional studies are still required to confirm the best cut-point.

Growth differentiation factor-15 and lactoferrin immuno-expression in breast cancer: relationship with body iron-status and survival outcome.

We aimed to evaluate the expression of growth differentiation factor-15 (GDF-15) and lactoferrin (Lf) in tumor and their relationship with the body iron-status and overall survival (OS) outcome of patients with breast cancer. A retrospective cohort study of female patients with primary breast cancer was performed. Clinical tumor samples from the Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University between December 2008 and June 2014 were collected. The immuno-expression of GDF-15 and Lf was stratified into positive or negative expression. Kaplan-Meier method and Cox proportional hazards regression model were used for data analysis. 74 breast cancer patients with a mean age of 52 years were included into our study. 14 (18.9%) patients were died by the end of August 1, 2019. The serum iron level of patients with GDF-15 (+)/Lf(-) expression was higher than that of patients with other expression patterns (18.2 ± 5.4 vs. 15.5 ± 5.0 µmol/L, P = 0.038), but was not associated with OS. In univariate Cox analyses, GDF-15(+) and GDF-15(+)/Lf(-) were significantly correlated with high mortality risk (HR = 3.75, 95%CI 1.05-13.48, P = 0.025; HR = 5.00, 95%CI 1.56-16.04, P = 0.004, respectively). After adjusted for age, menopause status and primary tumor grade, the association between GDF-15 and OS disappeared. However, the association between GDF-15/Lf and OS still existed in GDF-15(+)/Lf(-) (HR = 4.50, 95%CI 1.31-15.51, P = 0.017). The combined immuno-expression pattern of GDF-15 and Lf was significant associated with high serum iron level. GDF-15/Lf could be a powerful biomarker to predict survival outcome of patients with breast cancer but still needed to be confirmed by future studies.

The prognostic value of the Naples prognostic score for patients with non-small-cell lung cancer.

The Naples prognostic score (NPS) is an effective inflammatory and nutritional scoring system widely applied as a prognostic factor in various cancers. We aimed to analyze the prognostic value of the NPS in patients diagnosed with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We prospectively collected 395 patients diagnosed with NSCLC between January 2016 and December 2018 in two university-affiliated hospitals. Patients were divided into three groups according to their pretreatment NPS (Group 0: NPS = 0; Group 1: NPS = 1-2; Group 2: NPS = 3-4). Kaplan-Meier survival curves indicated that patients with higher NPS had a poorer overall survival (OS) and progress-free survival (PFS) (both P < 0.05). NPS was further confirmed as an independent prognostic factors of OS and PFS by multivariable survival analysis (both P < 0.05). Furthermore, stratifying by TNM stage, NPS also has significant predictive performance for OS and PFS in both early (I-IIIA) and advanced (IIIB-IV) stage NSCLC (all P < 0.05). The time-dependent receiver operating characteristic curve analysis demonstrated that NPS was more superior to other prognostic factors in predicting OS and PFS. In conclusion, NPS may serve as an effective indicator to predict OS and PFS in NSCLC patients regardless of TNM stage.