Compliance with Oral Nutritional Supplementation among Gastric Cancer Patients at Nutritional Risk: A Cross-Sectional Study.

AIMS: To explore compliance with oral nutritional supplementation (ONS) and to identify the risk factors for noncompliance among gastric cancer patients based on the health belief model (HBM). METHODS: This prospective, observational study included gastric cancer patients at nutritional risk who were prescribed ONS from July to September 2020. Demographic factors, clinical factors, ONS-related factors, social factors and variables derived from the HBM were collected. The outcome of interest was compliance with ONS, which was measured by self-reported intake of ONS. Uni- and multivariate analyses of potential risk factors for noncompliance were performed. RESULTS: A total of 162 gastric cancer patients in the preoperative and adjuvant chemotherapy periods were analyzed. The compliance rate with ONS was 24.7%. Univariate analysis identified thirteen variables as risk factors for decreased compliance. Multivariate logistic analysis indicated that ONS compliance was independently associated with the treatment period, perceived barriers to ONS, the motivation to take ONS, and the timing of taking ONS. CONCLUSION: This study showed that overall ONS compliance among gastric cancer patients was notably low. Patients in the chemotherapy treatment period who took ONS at random times each day perceived more barriers to taking ONS and had a lower level of motivation were associated with lower compliance with ONS.

Effects of art therapy in cancer care: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of art therapy on cancer patients' quality of life and physical and psychological symptoms. METHODS: The databases PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, The Cochrane Library, Clinical Trial.gov, the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang and the Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (CBM) were searched from their inception up to 20 August 2019. Trials examining the effects of art therapy on physical and psychological symptoms and quality of life versus a control group were included. The methodological quality of the included randomised controlled trials was assessed using the risk of bias tool of Cochrane Handbook. Meanwhile, the Newcastle-Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale (NOS) was used to evaluate the methodological quality of the non-randomised studies. RESULTS: Twelve studies involving 587 cancer patients were included. The results revealed that art therapy significantly reduced anxiety symptoms (standard mean difference [SMD] = -0.46, 95% confidence interval [CI] [-0.90, 0.02], p = .04), depression symptoms (SMD = -0.47, 95% CI [-0.72, 0.21], p < .01), and fatigue (SMD = -0.38, 95% CI [-0.68, -0.09], p = .01) in cancer patients. Art therapy also significantly improved the quality of life of cancer patients (SMD = 0.43, 95% CI [0.18, 0.68], p < .01). CONCLUSIONS: Art therapy had a positive effect on quality of life and symptoms in cancer patients and can be used as a complementary treatment for cancer patients.

Enteral supplementation of alanyl-glutamine attenuates the up-regulation of beta-defensin-2 protein in lung injury induced by intestinal ischemia reperfusion in rats.

BACKGROUND: Beta-defensin-2 (BD-2), an endogenous antimicrobial peptide, plays a key role in immune response against microbial invasion. This study aimed to observe the effect of Alanyl-Glutamine (Ala-Gln) on BD-2 protein expression in pulmonary tissues after intestinal ischemia reperfusion (IIR) in rats and to investigate its correlations to pulmonary inflammatory and oxidative injury. METHODS: Rats in IIR and the two treatment groups were subjected to intestine ischemia for 60 min and those in the treatment groups were administered orally with Ala-Gln or alanine (Ala) respectively. Lung tissues were harvested to detect the BD-2 protein expression. Concentrations of Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and malondialdehyde (MDA) as well as superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity in lung tissues were determined simultaneously. RESULTS: Ala-Gln attenuated the up-regulation of BD-2 expression (p < 0.05) and TNF-α (p < 0.05), MDA (p < 0.05) levels, as well as the reduction of SOD activity (p < 0.05) in lung tissues after IIR. But Ala did not exert significant effects. BD-2 protein in lung tissues was positively correlated to local TNF-α level (p < 0.01) and MDA concentration (p < 0.01) with statistical significance. CONCLUSION: Ala-Gln can relieve the IIR-induced up-regulation of BD-2 protein expression in the lung of rats, which involves anti-inflammation and anti-oxidation mechanisms.

[Perioperative management of the pancreaticoduoden-ectomy: fluid administration and nutritional support based on complication prevention and treatment].

Pancreaticoduodenectomy(PD) has been widely accepted as one of the most complicated operation in abdominal surgery. The patients who receive PD operation always have other concurrent conditions, such as jaundice, diabetes, liver dysfunction, and malnutrition. Pancreatic fistula, biliary fistula and gastrointestinal dysfunction are common complications after PD. Proper perioperative management and fluid administration can reduce postoperative complications and the mortality.

[Apoptosis of human gastric cancer cells induced by omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids(omega-3PUFAs) on the apoptosis of human gastric cancer cell line SGC-7901 and to explore the potential mechanisms. METHODS: Cells were treated with eicosapentaenoic acid (20:5 omega-3,EPA) or docosahexaenoic acid (22:6 omega-3, DHA) at concentrations of 10, 20 and 40 microg/ml. Cell growth and apoptosis were analyzed with MTT assay, cell morphology, DNA electrophoresis and flow cytometry. Mitochondrial membrane potential ( triangle right psi mt) was measured by fluorescent probe rhodamine 123. The distribution of cytochrome C in mitochondria and cytosol was determined by enzyme-linked immunoadsorbent assay. The composition of mitochondrial membrane phospholipid(MMP)was examined by gas chromatography. RESULTS: Both EPA and DHA markedly inhibited the SGC-7901 cell growth and induced apoptosis in a time- and dose-dependent manner. After incubation of the cells with 40 microg/ml EPA or DHA for 24 hours, the level of Deltapsimt siginificantly decreased (P<0.001), and cytochrome C largely released into cytosol from mitochondria. The proportions of EPA and DHA in MMP rapidly elevated while that of arachidonic acid sharply decreased. CONCLUSIONS: omega-3PUFAs inhibit the growth of gastric cancer cells through promoting apoptosis. Compositional and functional alterations in mitochondrial membrane may be an important initiator of apoptosis induced by omega-3PUFAs.