Effect of a specific supplement enriched with n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids on markers of inflammation, oxidative stress and metabolic status of ear, nose and throat cancer patients.

Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't;Malnutrition affects 40-50% of patients with ear, nose and throat (ENT) cancer. The aim of this study was to assess changes induced by a specific nutritional supplement enriched with n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, fiber and greater amounts of proteins and electrolytes, as compared with a standard nutritional supplement, on markers of inflammation, oxidative stress and metabolic status of ENT cancer patients undergoing radiotherapy (RT). Fourteen days after starting RT, 26 patients were randomly allocated to one of two groups, 13 supplemented with Prosure, an oncologic formula enriched with n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, fiber and greater amounts of proteins and electrolytes (specific supplement), and 13 supplemented with Standard-Isosource (standard supplement). Patients were evaluated before RT, and 14, 28 and 90 days after starting RT. The results showed that there were no significant differences between the groups, but greater changes were observed in the standard supplement group, such as a decline in body mass index (BMI), reductions in hematocrit, erythrocyte, eosinophil and albumin levels, and a rise in creatinine and urea levels. We concluded that metabolic, inflammatory and oxidative stress parameters were altered during RT, and began to normalize at the end of the study. Patients supplemented with Prosure showed an earlier normalization of these parameters, with more favorable changes in oxidative stress markers and a more balanced evolution, although the difference was not significant.This study was supported in part by grants from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, EC07/90285). F. Cardona is a recipient of CP07/0095 grant. M.M. Roca-Rodríguez is supported by fellowship Rio Hortega CM11/00030 Program from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness. Trial registration, EudraCT Number 2008-000330-50.Ye

Social-Emotional Inhibition of Return in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder Versus Typical Development

In typical development there is a bias to orient visual attention to social information. Children with ASD do not reliably demonstrate this bias, and the role of attention orienting has not been well studied. We examined attention orienting via the inhibition of return (IOR) mechanism in a spatial cueing task using social-emotional cues; we studied 8- to 17-year-old children with ASD (n=41) and typically developing controls (TDC) (n=25). The ASD group exhibited a significantly stronger IOR effect than the TDC group, and the IOR effect correlated positively with social impairments, but was unrelated to co-occurring ADHD or anxiety symptoms. These results provide evidence of an early visual attention mechanism that is directly related to core social deficits in ASD