Prediagnostic adult body mass index change and esophageal adenocarcinoma survival

Background: We examined whether body mass index (BMI) changes in adulthood, prior to disease onset, are associated with overall survival among esophageal adenocarcinoma patients. Methods: We included 285 histologically confirmed patients with a complete baseline BMI questionnaire. Using extended Cox regression models, we obtained adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) for the associations between overall survival and BMI at diagnosis, BMI 6 months before diagnosis, self-reported average adult BMI, and ΔBMI (BMI 6 months before diagnosis minus average adult BMI), categorized into tertiles 25 and <35 kg/m2 was associated with better overall survival. Compared to patients with stable BMI in adulthood, patients who gained BMI throughout adulthood had 1.68 times the all-cause hazard of death (95% CI: 1.17-2.43; P <.01), independent of diagnosis BMI and percent weight loss 6 months before diagnosis. Compared to patients with average adult BMI < 27.5 who maintained stable adult BMI, patients with average adult BMI ≥ 27.5 kg/m2 who gained BMI had the worst survival (HR = 3.05; 95% CI 1.62-5.72; P <.01). Conclusion: Body mass index gain in adulthood is associated with poor overall survival, and maintaining a normal body weight throughout adulthood is associated with the best overall survival among esophageal adenocarcinoma patients, independent of BMI at diagnosis

Excessive iron storage in captive omnivores? The case of the coati (Nasua spp.)

We collated necropsy reports for 13 coatis (Nasua spp.), revealing four cases of moderate and six cases of massive iron deposition in liver tissue. This survey corroborates an earlier report that noted a high frequency of iron deposits in coatis at necropsy. A comparison of the reported natural diet of coatis and the usually fed captive diets revealed that whereas vertebrate products (dog/cat food, prey items) represent the staple diet items for captive individuals, free-ranging coatis only rarely consume vertebrate prey; their natural diet is dominated by wild fruits and invertebrates. This discrepancy should be reflected in high levels of readily available heme iron in captive diets, with little or no heme iron in the natural diets. Therefore, it could be hypothesized that the use of vertebrate products in animals not adapted to such high levels of readily available heme iron could be a cause for dietary iron overload. Further studies on the relevance of excessive iron storage in omnivores/insectivores, and their etiopathology, are indicated