Effect of n-3 fatty acids on patients with advanced lung cancer: a double-blind, placebo-controlled study.

PUFA from fish oil appear to have anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative effects and improve nutritional status in cancer patients. With this as background, the aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of EPA plus DHA on inflammatory condition, and oxidative and nutritional status in patients with lung cancer. In our multicentre, randomised, double-blind trial, thirty-three patients with a diagnosis of advanced inoperable non-small-cell lung cancer and undergoing chemotherapy were divided into two groups, receiving four capsules/d containing 510 mg of EPA and 340 mg of DHA, or 850 mg of placebo, for 66 d. At the start of chemotherapy (T0), after 8 d (T1), 22 d (T2) and 66 d (T3), biochemical (inflammatory and oxidative status parameters) and anthropometric parameters were measured in both groups. A significant increase of body weight in the n-3 group at T3 v. T0 was observed. Concerning inflammation, C-reactive protein and IL-6 levels differed significantly between the n-3 and placebo groups at T3, and progressively decreased during chemotherapy in the n-3 group, evidencing n-3 PUFA anti-inflammatory action. Concerning oxidative status, plasma reactive oxygen species levels increased in the placebo group v. the n-3 group at the later treatment times. Hydroxynonenal levels increased in the placebo group during the study, while they stabilised in the n-3 group. Our data confirm that the continual assumption of EPA plus DHA determined an anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative action which could be considered a preliminary goal in anti-cachectic therapy.

What is the clinical usefulness of the metabolic syndrome? The Casale Monferrato study.

OBJECTIVE: Data on the clinical usefulness of the metabolic syndrome with respect to cardiovascular risk are not conclusive. We have assessed this issue in a large population-based cohort of diabetic and nondiabetic people in Southern Europe. METHODS: An Italian population-based cohort of 3729 individuals (2211 without diabetes and 1518 with diabetes) was examined, with centralized measurements, including the Homeostasis Model Assessment (HOMA) index in nondiabetic people. The usefulness of the metabolic syndrome (ATP III criteria) as an indicator of cardiovascular disease (CVD), independently of classical and novel risk factor [C-reactive protein (CRP) and albumin excretion rate (AER)] was assessed by using unconditional logistic regression. RESULTS: One thousand, seven hundred and fifty-three individuals (47.0%) had neither diabetes nor the metabolic syndrome, 458 (12.3%) had the metabolic syndrome only, 442 (11.8%) had type 2 diabetes only and 1076 (28.9%) had both diabetes and the metabolic syndrome. The highest likelihood of having CVD was conferred by both diabetes and the metabolic syndrome [odds ratio (OR) = 4.37, 95% confidence interval (CI) 3.25-5.87], independently of age, sex, low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, smoke, AER, and CRP values. After further adjustment for its individual components, the association between CVD and the metabolic syndrome was no more evident. Among people with CRP 3 mg/l or less, ORs were similar in nondiabetic people with the metabolic syndrome and in diabetic people without it, whereas among those with CRP greater than 3 mg/l OR was two-fold higher in the latter. Values in upper quartiles of the HOMA-IR conferred a significant two-fold increased OR of CVD, even after adjustment for individual components of the metabolic syndrome, CRP and AER. CONCLUSIONS: The additional information provided by the metabolic syndrome is limited, in both diabetic and nondiabetic people, whereas the HOMA index is a useful indicator of CVD, independently of individual components of the metabolic syndrome, classical and novel risk factors.

Fasting plasma C-peptide and micro- and macrovascular complications in a large clinic-based cohort of type 1 diabetic patients.

OBJECTIVE: A protective effect of residual beta-cell function on microvascular complications of type 1 diabetes has been suggested. Our aim was to retrospectively evaluate the association of fasting plasma C-peptide values with micro- and macrovascular complications. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: We recruited a clinic-based cohort of 471 type 1 diabetic patients born after 1945 and cared for in the period 1994-2004. Centralized measurements and standardized procedures of ascertainment of micro- and macrovascular complications were employed. Individual cumulative averages of A1C up to 2007 were calculated. RESULTS: Residual beta-cell secretion was detected even many years after diabetes diagnosis. In multivariate linear regression analysis, fasting plasma C-peptide values were positively associated with age at diagnosis (beta = 0.02; P < 0.0001) and triglycerides (beta = 0.20; P = 0.05) and inversely associated with diabetes duration (beta = -0.03; P < 0.0001) and HDL cholesterol (beta = -0.006; P = 0.03). The final model explained 21% of fasting C-peptide variability. With respect to fasting C-peptide values in the lowest tertile (<0.06 nmol/l), higher values were associated with lower prevalence of microvascular complications (odds ratio [OR] 0.59 [95% CI 0.37-0.94]) independently of age, sex, diabetes duration, individual cumulative A1C average during the study period, hypertension, and cardiovascular diseases. No association was evident with macrovascular complications (0.77 [0.38-1.58]). CONCLUSIONS: Our study shows an independent protective effect of residual beta-cell function on the development of microvascular complications in type 1 diabetes, suggesting the potential beneficial effect of treatment that allows the preservation of even modest beta-cell function over time.

C-reactive protein and 5-year survival in type 2 diabetes: the Casale Monferrato Study.

OBJECTIVE: To determine to what extent plasma C-reactive protein (CRP) values influence 5-year all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in type 2 diabetic individuals, independently of albumin excretion rate (AER) and other cardiovascular risk factors, and its incremental usefulness for predicting individual risk of mortality. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Measurements of CRP were performed in 2,381 of 3,249 (73.3%) subjects as part of the population-based Casale Monferrato Study. Its association with 5-year all-cause and cardiovascular mortality was assessed with multivariate Cox proportional hazards modeling. The C statistic and measures of calibration and global fit were also assessed. RESULTS: Results are based on 496 deaths in 11.717 person-years of observations (median follow-up 5.4 years). With respect to subjects with CRP < or =3 mg/l, those with higher values had an adjusted hazard ratio (HR) of 1.51 (95% CI 1.18-1.92) for all-cause mortality and 1.44 (0.99-2.08) for cardiovascular mortality. In normoalbuminuric subjects, respective HRs of CRP were 1.56 (1.13-2.15) and 1.65 (1.00-2.74), AER being neither a modifier nor a confounder of CRP association. In analysis limited to diabetic subjects without cardiovascular disease (CVD), adjusted HRs were 1.67 (1.24-2.24) for all-cause mortality and 1.36 (0.83-2.24) for cardiovascular mortality. The improvement in individual risk assessment was marginal when measured with various statistical measures of model discrimination, calibration, and global fit. CONCLUSIONS: CRP measurement is independently associated with short-term mortality risk in type 2 diabetic individuals, even in normoalbuminuric subjects and in those without a previous diagnosis of CVD. Its clinical usefulness in individual assessment of 5-year risk of mortality, however, is limited.