stilbenes and Anorexia

The abnormalities associated with cancer cachexia include anorexia, weight loss, muscle loss and atrophy, anaemia and alterations in carbohydrate, lipid and protein metabolism. The aim of the present investigation was to examine the anti-wasting effects of some nutraceuticals such as genistein, resveratrol, epigallocatechin gallate and diallyl sulphide (DAS).. The in vitro effects of these nutraceuticals on proteolysis were examined in muscle cell cultures submitted to hyperthermia. The in vivo effects of DAS were also tested in cachectic tumour-bearing rats (Yoshida AH-130 ascites hepatoma).. Although all the nutraceuticals tested inhibited muscle proteolysis, the most promising effects were related with DAS. In vivo administration of DAS only leads to a small improvement in tibialis muscle and heart weights; however, administration of DAS to healthy animals increased all muscle weights, this being associated with a decreased gene expression of proteolytic systems components.. It may be suggested that DAS could be used to improve muscle mass during healthy conditions.

Topics: Allyl Compounds; Animals; Anorexia; Cachexia; Catechin; Cells, Cultured; Dietary Supplements; Genistein; Male; Muscle, Skeletal; Muscular Atrophy; Neoplasms; Rats; Rats, Wistar; Resveratrol; Stilbenes; Sulfides; Weight Loss

Because nonselective cycloooxygenase (COX) inhibition attenuated anorexia after lipopolysaccharide (LPS) administration, we tested the ability of resveratrol (2.5, 10, and 40 mg/kg) and NS-398 (2.5, 10, and 40 mg/kg), selective inhibitors of the two COX isoforms COX-1 and -2, respectively, to attenuate LPS (100 microg/kg ip)-induced anorexia. NS-398 (10 and 40 mg/kg) administered with LPS at lights out attenuated LPS-induced anorexia, whereas resveratrol at all doses tested did not. Because prostaglandin (PG) E(2) is considered the major metabolite synthesized by COX, we measured plasma and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) PGE(2) levels after LPS administration. LPS induced a time-dependent increase of PGE(2) in CSF but not in plasma. NS-398 (5, 10, and 40 mg/kg) blocked the LPS-induced increase in CSF PGE(2), whereas resveratrol (10 mg/kg) did not. These results support a role of COX-2 in mediating the anorectic response to peripheral LPS and point at PGE(2) as a potential neuromodulator involved in this response.

Topics: Analgesics, Non-Narcotic; Animals; Anorexia; Cyclooxygenase 1; Cyclooxygenase 2; Cyclooxygenase 2 Inhibitors; Cyclooxygenase Inhibitors; Dinoprostone; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Eating; Isoenzymes; Lipopolysaccharides; Male; Membrane Proteins; Nitrobenzenes; Prostaglandin-Endoperoxide Synthases; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Resveratrol; Stilbenes; Sulfonamides