Open-Label Study of the Influence of Food Containing the Royal Sun Mushroom, Agaricus brasiliensis KA21 (Higher Basidiomycetes), on the Quality of Life of Healthy Human Volunteers.

We conducted an open-label study in which food containing Agaricus brasiliensis KA21 was consumed continuously for 12 weeks. A questionnaire for subjective evaluation of the efficacy of this food (hereafter, subjective evaluation questionnaire) revealed significant improvements compared with before its intake; there were improvements in the scores of the amounts of hair loss and gray hair, fatigue and general malaise, eye strain, shoulder stiffness, coldness of extremities, difficulty staying awake during the day, and ease of getting out of bed. These findings suggest that intake of food containing A. brasiliensis KA21 results in the above-mentioned subjectively evaluated improvements, and the possibility that A. brasiliensis KA21 improves the body's immunity. Moreover, no issues regarding the safety of the test food were found.

Effects of celecoxib, medroxyprogesterone, and dietary intervention on systemic syndromes in patients with advanced lung adenocarcinoma: a pilot study.

Systemic syndromes characterized by a persistent activity of circulating mediators (cytokines) are frequently present with advanced cancer. We grouped under the general heading of "Systemic Immune-Metabolic Syndrome (SIMS)" a particular variety of distressing systemic syndrome characterized by dysregulation of the psycho-neuro-immune-endocrine homeostasis, with overlapping clinical manifestations. SIMS may include cachexia, anorexia, nausea, early satiety, fatigue, tumor fever, cognitive changes and superinfection. The aim of this study was to ameliorate some of the SIMS symptoms in a homogeneous group of lung adenocarcinoma patients using a multitargeted therapy. Fifteen patients with evidence of SIMS were studied. SIMS was defined as the presence of weight loss, anorexia, fatigue performance status>/=2 and acute-phase protein response. Patients received medroxyprogesterone (MPA) (500 mg twice daily), celecoxib (200 mg twice daily), plus oral food supplementation for 6 weeks. After treatment, 13 patients either had stable weight (+/- 1%) or had gained weight. There were significant differences in improvement of body-weight-change rate, nausea, early satiety, fatigue, appetite and performance status. Patients who had any kind of lung infection showed higher levels of IL-10 compared to non-infected patients (P=0.039). Our results suggest that patients with advanced lung adenocarcinoma, treated with MPA, celecoxib and dietary intervention, might have considerable improvement in certain SIMS outcomes. This multitargeted symptomatic approach deserves further study.

Aminoácidos: bases atuais para sua suplementaçäo na atividade física / Aminoacids: update of their supply on physical fittness

Esta revisão aborda aspectos atuais relativos ao metabolismo de aminoácidos, que tem nos últimos anos incluído, além da abordagem de fatores periféricos relacionados ao treinamento (fadiga periférica), fatores residentes no Sistema Nervoso Central passíveis de alterar o rendimento durante a atividade física competitiva (fadiga central). Levando em conta ambas as abordagens assinaladas, alternativas de suplementação de aminoácidos de cadeia ramificada, via dieta, também serão discutidas como opções viáveis para o aumento do desempenho de atletas competitivos