High prevalence of malnutrition and nutrition impact symptoms in older patients with cancer: Results of a Brazilian multicenter study.

BACKGROUND: Malnutrition in cancer is an independent factor associated with negative clinical outcomes. The objective of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of malnutrition across different age groups in patients with cancer in Brazil and to identify associations with nutrition impact symptoms (NIS). METHODS: In this observational, cross-sectional, multicenter study, the authors evaluated 4783 patients with cancer aged ≥20 years who were admitted to 45 public hospitals in Brazil. Nutritional status, nutritional risk, and NIS were evaluated using the Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment. RESULTS: More than one-fourth (25.5%) of all participants were aged ≥65 years. In patients aged ≥65 years, the prevalence of moderate/suspected and severe malnutrition was 55%, it was 45.4% in those aged 51 to 64 years, and it was 36.1% in those aged ≤50 years. Among the NIS with a higher risk of occurrence in patients aged ≥65 years were no appetite (odds ratio [OR], 1.90; 95% CI, 1.62-2.22; P < .05) and dry mouth (OR, 1.40; 95% CI, 1.1-1.67; P < .05). In patients between ages 51 and 64 years, compared with those aged ≤50 years, the NIS with a higher risk of occurrence were no appetite (OR, 1.45; 95% CI, 1.23-1.69; P < .05), dry mouth (OR, 1.22; 95% CI, 1.02-1.45; P < .05), and problems with swallowing (OR, 1.56; 95% CI, 1.25-1.96; P < .05). CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of malnutrition and the occurrence of NIS are high in hospitalized Brazilian patients aged ≥65 years who have cancer. The occurrence of NIS was higher in the population aged >50 years than in those aged ≤50 years. Nutritional screening and assessment should be performed immediately after hospitalization to enable early diagnosis and multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary intervention(s).

Bacterial diversity assessment in soil of an active Brazilian copper mine using high-throughput sequencing of 16S rDNA amplicons.

Mining activities pose severe environmental risks worldwide, generating extreme pH conditions and high concentrations of heavy metals, which can have major impacts on the survival of organisms. In this work, pyrosequencing of the V3 region of the 16S rDNA was used to analyze the bacterial communities in soil samples from a Brazilian copper mine. For the analysis, soil samples were collected from the slopes (geotechnical structures) and the surrounding drainage of the Sossego mine (comprising the Sossego and Sequeirinho deposits). The results revealed complex bacterial diversity, and there was no influence of deposit geographic location on the composition of the communities. However, the environment type played an important role in bacterial community divergence; the composition and frequency of OTUs in the slope samples were different from those of the surrounding drainage samples, and Acidobacteria, Chloroflexi, Firmicutes, and Gammaproteobacteria were responsible for the observed difference. Chemical analysis indicated that both types of sample presented a high metal content, while the amounts of organic matter and water were higher in the surrounding drainage samples. Non-metric multidimensional scaling (N-MDS) analysis identified organic matter and water as important distinguishing factors between the bacterial communities from the two types of mine environment. Although habitat-specific OTUs were found in both environments, they were more abundant in the surrounding drainage samples (around 50 %), and contributed to the higher bacterial diversity found in this habitat. The slope samples were dominated by a smaller number of phyla, especially Firmicutes. The bacterial communities from the slope and surrounding drainage samples were different in structure and composition, and the organic matter and water present in these environments contributed to the observed differences.

Effects of ω-3 supplementation on the nutritional status, immune, and inflammatory profiles of gastric cancer patients: A randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to study the effect of ω-3 supplementation on the nutritional status and the immune and inflammatory profiles of patients with gastric cancer during antineoplastic pretreatment. METHODS: This was a randomized, open, controlled longitudinal study with intervention in outpatient patients with gastric cancer. Sixty-eight patients were randomized into two groups and received either a formula enriched with ω-3 (intervention group [IG]) or standard formula without ω-3 (control group) for 30 d consecutively. Nutritional status (based on patient-generated subjective global assessment, bioimpedance, and anthropometric measurements) and immune and inflammatory parameters were collected before and after supplementation. Results were expressed as frequency, median, and interquartile intervals and were compared by non-parametric test. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: Thirty-four patients were included in each group. Of the patients, 64.7% were men, 44.1% were older than 60 years, and 45.6% had stage III disease. There was an increase in C-reactive protein in the control group before and after supplementation, in addition to the worsening in some anthropometric parameters, such as arm muscle area and arm muscle circumference. There was maintenance of the immune profile in both groups. An increase in weight gain was observed in the IG but not in the control group (1.2 [0.9-9] versus 0.7 kg [0.4-1.3]; P = 0.03), as was a reduction of interleukin-6 (5.7 [4.1-6.4] versus 6.3 pg/mL [5.6-8.6]; P = 0.03) and a maintenance of nutritional status, after supplementation. CONCLUSIONS: Supplementation with ω-3 leads to weight gain, reduction in the inflammatory profile, and maintenance of the nutritional and immune profiles of these patients, but further studies are needed to examine changes in body composition.

Undernutrition as independent predictor of early mortality in elderly cancer patients.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate the 1-y survival of elderly patients with cancer and the association between undernutrition and mortality. METHODS: This was a cohort study with elderly patients ages ≥65 y admitted between September and October 2014. A nutritionist performed a Mini Nutritional Assessment-Short Form (MNA-SF) assessment during 48 h of hospital admission and collected data about potential confounding variables (comorbidities, stage of cancer, treatment in the previous 3 mo, and reason for hospitalization). Vital status was determined from the medical records or public records office. Overall survival was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Cox regression was performed to estimate unadjusted hazard ratios. Variables with P < 0.20 by univariate analysis were selected for multivariate analysis. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: Of the 136 patients (mean age, 73.1 y; 52.2% men), 29.4%, 41.2%, and 29.4% were classified as normal, at risk for undernutrition, and undernutrition, respectively, according to the MNA-SF. The mortality rate was 31.6% after 12 mo. One-year mortality was higher among the undernourished patients, followed by patients at risk for undernutrition. After adjustment for confounding variables, the multivariate regression Cox model showed that being undernourished according to the MNA-SF increased the risk for death at 1 y (hazard ratio, 5.59; 95% confidence interval, 1.8-17.3; P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The results showed that the MNA-SF can be a useful tool in identifying elderly patients at higher risk for 1-y mortality.

High-quality draft genome sequence of Kocuria marina SO9-6, an actinobacterium isolated from a copper mine.

An actinobacterial strain, designated SO9-6, was isolated from a copper iron sulfide mineral. The organism is Gram-positive, facultatively anaerobic, and coccoid. Chemotaxonomic and phylogenetic properties were consistent with its classification in the genus Kocuria. Here, we report the first draft genome sequence of Kocuria marina SO9-6 under accession JROM00000000 (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nuccore/725823918), which provides insights for heavy metal bioremediation and production of compounds of biotechnological interest.