Resting energy expenditure in patients with non-small cell lung cancer

Article Abstract:

Cachexia is a condition of weight loss, malaise, and general ill health, which affects the victims of many chronic diseases, especially cancer patients. The weight loss observed in many cancer patients may be a result of decreased energy intake, increased expenditure of energy, or a combination of the two. Little is known about the physiological mechanisms of weight loss in cancer patients. Lung cancer patients appear to be particularly susceptible to the problem of weight loss. To learn more about the physiological factors involved, resting energy expenditure was measured in 30 patients with newly diagnosed lung cancer. Resting energy expenditure (REE) is the rate at which the body consumes fuel when it is not performing work. It is determined by using instruments that chemically measure the gases exhaled by the patient, indicating the rate the body is producing carbon dioxide. The expected level of energy expenditure can be calculated using body size and other factors. This estimated expenditure can then be compared with the actual measured expenditure. A patient whose expenditure of energy is more than 15 percent higher than the expected value is said to be hypermetabolic. The average REE among the lung cancer patients was 20 percent higher than expected, and 18 of the 30 patients (60 percent) were hypermetabolic. When similar measurements were made on patients with stomach cancer or colon cancer, only 13 percent were hypermetabolic. The metabolic differences observed could not be accounted for by differences in the tumor stage or location or in lung function, nor could they be accounted for by smoking. The findings suggest that the presence of the lung cancer itself directly contributes to an increase in resting energy expenditure. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Complications and side effects, Energy metabolism, Cancer patients, Basal metabolism, Lung cancer, Cachexia

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Effect of acetate and propionate on fasting hepatic glucose production in humans

Article Abstract:

A study to determine the effect of short chain fatty acids on the production of glucose by the liver found that propionate decreases hepatic glucose production by inhibiting neoglucogenesis and increasing glycolysis while acetate in the absence of propionate increases hepatic glucose production. The concentration of blood glucose and plasma insulin were unaffected by treatment with propionate alone or propionate with acetate. However, the increase in free fatty acid plasma concentration which is associated with the fasting state was inhibited by the presence of these compounds.

Fatty acids, Glucose, Glucose synthesis

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