Nutrition and neuroendocrine tumors: An update of the literature.

Neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) are a heterogeneous group of neoplasms with worldwide increasing incidence, high prevalence and survival. Both the tumor itself and the systemic therapy may have an impact on patients' nutrition. Malnutrition negatively impacts on outcome in NETs patients. Moreover, it has been demonstrated that body mass index was a risk factor for NET development and that metabolic syndrome was associated with worse prognosis in these patients. Of note, food could also interact with the metabolism of oral target therapy and antineoplastic agents used for the treatment of progressive NETs. Therefore, the nutritional assessment, based on body composition, and lifestyle modifications should be an integral component of management of the NET patients. The nutrition care plans are an integral part of the multidisciplinary management team for patients with NETs. Nutritionists with expertise in NETs can provide dietary approaches to improve the quality of life and nutritional status during various therapeutic modalities used in patients with NETs. The aim of this review is to critically discuss the importance of nutrition and body composition in patients with NETs

The importance of being a ‘lark’ in post-menopausal women with obesity: A ploy to prevent type 2 diabetes mellitus?

Chronotype is defined as the behavioral manifestation of circadian rhythms related to the external light–dark cycle. Evening chronotype has been associated with an increased risk of developing cardiometabolic diseases in obesity. Menopause is a lifestage associated with an increased risk of developing cardiometabolic diseases and a change in circadian rhythmicity compared to pre-menopause. However, the prevalence of chronotype categories in menopause and their role in determining menopause-related cardiometabolic risk, mostly in obesity, have not been investigated. Thus, we aimed to investigate the prevalence of chronotype categories in post-menopausal women with obesity and their role in menopause-related cardiometabolic risk. In this cross-sectional study we enrolled 49 pre-menopausal and 74 post-menopausal women with obesity. Anthropometric parameters, lifestyle habits, adherence to the Mediterranean Diet (MD), sleep quality, chronotype and the presence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and cardiovascular diseases (CVD) were studied. No significance differences were detected in terms of lifestyle and adherence to the MD between pre-and post-menopausal women. Chronotype was classified as morning in 66 (53.6%), evening in 20 (16.3%) and intermediate in 37 (30.1%) women. In addition, pre-menopausal women with obesity showed a significantly higher chance to have an intermediate chronotype (OR = 2.21, 95% CI 1.28–3.83; p = 0.004), whereas post-menopausal women with obesity showed a trend to have a higher morning chronotype (OR = 1.42, 95% CI 0.98–2.06; p = 0.051), although this did not reach statistical significance. No significant differences were detected in terms of prevalence of evening chronotype between the two groups. However, the evening chronotype had a significantly higher risk to have T2DM compared to the morning (OR = 17.29, 95% CI 2.40–124.27; p = 0.005) and intermediate chronotypes (OR = 30.86, 95% CI 2.05–464.32; p = 0.013) in both pre-and post-menopausal women with obesity. In conclusion, the intermediate chronotype was significantly more prevalent in pre-menopausal women with obesity compared to post-menopausal women. Evening chronotype was associated to T2DM in both pre-and post-menopause. These results support the importance of including the assessment of chronotype in the management of women with obesity in post-menopause

Desempenho produtivo e características de carcaça de bovinos inteiros e castrados criados no sistema superprecoce.

Quarenta bovinos machos mestiços Simental-Nelore foram desmamados com idade entre 5 e 8 meses e daí confinados até o abate, objetivando testar duas condições sexuais (inteiros versus castrados no início do confinamento). Avaliaram-se o consumo voluntário de matéria seca por lote, o ganho de peso vivo, o ganho de peso relativo, a conversão alimentar por lote, o peso de carcaça quente, o rendimento de carcaça, o escore de conformação de carcaça, o escore de acabamento de gordura, a produção de gordura abdominal, a área de olho-de-lombo, o peso do quarto traseiro resfriado e a proporção deste sobre o peso da carcaça quente. Fomularam-se equações de regressão para estimar o peso de abate em função do peso inicial e da duração do confinamento. A castração mostrou-se não recomendável no sistema de produção de bovinos abatidos jovens, por resultar em animais de menor peso ao abate e em carcaças mais leves e de qualidade inferior. A utilização de animais inteiros melhorou o rendimento de carcaça e não prejudicou o grau de acabamento. Sob o manejo intensivo aqui estudado, a eficiência do crescimento mostrou-se fortemente dependente do peso dos bezerros à desmama no início do confinamento

Impact of Nutritional Status on Gastroenteropancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors (GEP-NET) Aggressiveness.

Neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) are rare neoplasms mostly originating from the gastroenteropancreatic tract (GEP-NETs). Data regarding nutritional status in GEP-NET patients are limited. The aim of the study was to investigate the nutritional status and adherence to the Mediterranean Diet (MD) in GEP-NET patients and to correlate them with tumor aggressiveness. A cross-sectional case-control observational study was conducted enrolling 83 patients with well-differentiated G1/G2 GEP-NETs after resection, as well as 83 healthy subjects, age, sex and body mass index-matched. Nutritional status was assessed by evaluating with Bioelectrical Impedance analysis and its phase angle (PhA), adherence to the MD according to PREDIMED score, dietary assessment, anthropometric parameters, and clinico-pathological characteristics. GEP-NET patients consumed less frequently vegetables, fruits, wine, fish/seafood, nuts, and more frequently red/processed meats, butter, cream, margarine, and soda drinks than controls. Patients with more aggressive disease presented a lower adherence to MD according to PREDIMED categories in comparison to G1, localized and free/stable disease status. A smaller PhA value and a lower PREDIMED score were significantly correlated with G2 tumor, metastases, and progressive disease. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study reporting an association between nutritional status and tumor aggressiveness in a selected group of GEP-NETs. Moreover, higher intakes of food of MD, may represent a potential tool for prevention of tumor aggressiveness. Thus, a skilled nutritionist should be an integral part of the multidisciplinary management of GEP-NET patients

Policy recommendations from the 13th ICABR conference on the emerging bioeconomy

The International Consortium on Agricultural Biotechnology Research held its 13th annual conference in Ravello, Italy in June 2009. The theme of the conference was the bioeconomy,and this topic was addressed through research presentations from academia, government, and industry. Numerous presentations from developing countries highlighted the benefits of agricultural biotechnology in these nations. The broad range of presentations provided a wealth of insights, resulting in three policy recommendations regarding future funding, international regulation, and technology transfer.global food crisis, biofuels, food safety, innovation

Ewing's Sarcoma of the Lesser Sac Masquerading as a Pancreatic Tumor

Extraosseous Ewing's sarcoma/primitive neuroectodermal tumor (ES/PNET) is an uncommon, aggressive, and malignant tumor with a poor patient outcome. Its occurrence in the lesser sac is a rare event and to the best of our knowledge, has not been previously described. The present case was clinically and radiologically misdiagnosed as a pancreatic tumor/gastrointestinal stromal tumor. Histopathology revealed a tumor with "small round cells" that were positive for CD99, confirming the diagnosis of ES/PNET. This report highlights the importance of considering Ewing's sarcoma in the differential diagnosis of intraabdominal, extraintestinal masses

En face optical coherence tomography of foveal microstructure in full-thickness macular hole: a model to study perifoveal müller cells.

PURPOSE: To characterize perifoveal intraretinal cavities observed around full-thickness macular holes (MH) using en face optical coherence tomography and to establish correlations with histology of human and primate maculae. DESIGN: Retrospective nonconsecutive observational case series. METHODS: Macular en face scans of 8 patients with MH were analyzed to quantify the areas of hyporeflective spaces, and were compared with macular flat mounts and sections from 1 normal human donor eye and 2 normal primate eyes (Macaca fascicularis). Immunohistochemistry was used to study the distribution of glutamine synthetase, expressed by Müller cells, and zonula occludens-1, a tight-junction protein. RESULTS: The mean area of hyporeflective spaces was lower in the inner nuclear layer (INL) than in the complex formed by the outer plexiform (OPL) and the Henle fiber layers (HFL): 5.0 × 10(-3) mm(2) vs 15.9 × 10(-3) mm(2), respectively (P < .0001, Kruskal-Wallis test). In the OPL and HFL, cavities were elongated with a stellate pattern, whereas in the INL they were rounded and formed vertical cylinders. Immunohistochemistry confirmed that Müller cells followed a radial distribution around the fovea in the frontal plane and a "Z-shaped" course in the axial plane, running obliquely in the OPL and HFL and vertically in the inner layers. In addition, zonula occludens-1 co-localized with Müller cells within the complex of OPL and HFL, indicating junctions in between Müller cells and cone axons. CONCLUSION: The dual profile of cavities around MHs correlates with Müller cell morphology and is consistent with the hypothesis of intra- or extracellular fluid accumulation along these cells

Eustachian tube dysfunction in children with adenoid hypertrophy: the role of adenoidectomy for improving ear ventilation

Introduction: To our knowledge, few papers have addressed preoperative evaluation of the impact of adenoid hypertrophy (AH) on the pathogenesis of eustachian tube dysfunction (ETD) in children with otitis media with effusion (OME). Aim: The aim of this study was 2-fold: first, to evaluate ETD using tubomanometry and Eustachian Tube Score 7 (ETS-7), in a group of children having AH; second, to assess the clinical impact of adenoidectomy on the ETD of these patients. Methods: Fifty patients, aged 4 to 15 years, underwent adenoidectomy based on various parameters: size of the adenoids causing canal obstruction (grades 1-4), the presence of OME, and recurrent episodes of rhinosinusitis. The function of the eustachian tube was evaluated using ETS-7 before and after surgical treatment. The patients were followed up for 6 months. Results: Forty children presented ETD. Of these, 36 had a grade 4 AH. The preoperative mean value for ETS-7 was 6.62. The mean postoperative ETS-7 score showed a value of 9.60 with a statistical difference compared to the preoperative value (P =.0015). Conclusions: Adenoid hypertrophy has a high impact on the frequency of ETD. In the patients observed in the present study, the ETS-7 score appeared to be a valid tool for assessing ETD both preoperatively and postoperatively. Adenoidectomy seemed to be effective in improving ETD as well as middle ear ventilation

Efeito da castração sobre a qualidade da carne de bovinos superprecoces.

Estudou-se o efeito da castração sobre a qualidade da carne de bovinos machos mestiços Nelore-Simental, abatidos com idade entre 11 e 14 meses. Na desmama, aos 5-8 meses, metade dos animais foi orquiectomizada e, após, todos foram confinados durante 158 ou 193 dias, até o abate. A dieta consumida consistiu de 88% de concentrados. Na carne crua dos dois grupos (inteiros e castrados) não houve variação estatística quanto a composição centesimal, ao pH e aos parâmetros de cor. O contra-filé assado dos castrados apresentou-se significativamente mais macio (4,78 contra 6,42 kgf), mais gorduroso (6,2 contra 4,4% na base úmida) e com maior perda por gotejamento de gordura durante a cocção (3,2 contra 2,2%), não diferindo dos inteiros quanto ao teor de colesterol, de matéria seca e perdas por evaporação e totais. As correlações testadas apresentaram baixos coeficientes, exceto entre pH e cor