Kynurenic acid as the neglected ingredient of commercial baby formulas.

The global increase in resorting to artificial nutritional formulas replacing breastfeeding has been identified among the complex causes of the obesity epidemic in infants and children. One of the factors recently recognized to influence metabolism and weight gain is kynurenic acid (KYNA), an agonist of G protein-coupled receptor (GPR35). Therefore the aim of the study was to determine the concentration of KYNA in artificial nutritional formulas in comparison with its level in human breast milk and to evaluate developmental changes in rats exposed to KYNA enriched diet during the time of breastfeeding. KYNA levels were measured in milk samples from 25 heathy breast-feeding women during the first six months after labor and were compared with 21 time-adjusted nutritional formulas. Animal experiments were performed on male Wistar rats. KYNA was administered in drinking water. The content of KYNA in human milk increases more than 13 times during the time of breastfeeding while its level is significantly lower in artificial formulas. KYNA was detected in breast milk of rats and it was found that the supplementation of rat maternal diet with KYNA in drinking water results in its increase in maternal milk. By means of the immunoblotting technique, GPR35 was evidenced in the mucosa of the jejunum of 1-day-old rats and distinct morphological changes in the jejunum of 21-day-old rats fed by mothers exposed to water supplemented with KYNA were found. A significant reduction of body weight gain of rats postnatally exposed to KYNA supplementation without changes in total body surface and bone mineral density was observed. The rat offspring fed with breast milk with artificially enhanced KYNA content demonstrated a lower mass gain during the first 21 days of life, which indicates that KYNA may act as an anti-obesogen. Further studies are, therefore, warranted to investigate the mechanisms regulating KYNA secretion via breast milk, as well as the influence of breast milk KYNA on mass gain. In the context of lifelong obesity observed worldwide in children fed artificially, our results imply that insufficient amount of KYNA in baby formulas could be considered as one of the factors associated with increased mass gain.

Main dietary compounds and pancreatic cancer risk. The quantitative analysis of case-control and cohort studies.

OBJECTIVE: Estimation of the role of main dietary compounds in the risk of developing pancreatic cancer. RESEARCH METHODS AND PROCEDURES: Literature published till 2010 was reviewed and selected for further analysis. The used terms were: red meat, minced meat, ham, bacon, sausages, white meat, poultry, vegetables, fish, eggs, fruits, lifestyle, diet, pancreatic cancer and pancreatic neoplasm. The collected data were meta-analysed with calculation of combined relative risk and 95% confidence interval as well as studies heterogeneity. RESULTS: A meta-analysis of 11 case-control studies indicates that red meat ingestion elevates pancreatic cancer risk by 48% (95% CI=1.25-1.76). The vegetables and fruit reduce the risk by 38% (95% CI=0.54-0.73) and 29% (95% CI=0.59-0.84), respectively. The pooled analyses of 10 cohort studies do not show significant relations between main dietary compound ingestion and pancreatic cancer risk. CONCLUSION: The red meat intake is associated with elevated risk of pancreatic cancer in contrast to vegetables and fruit ingestion. The ingestion of red meat, vegetables and fruit in cohort studies was not influenced on pancreatic cancer risk. The role of fish, poultry and eggs was not significant in both case-control and cohort studies, thus further studies were needed.

The possum scoring system and complete blood count in the prediction of complications after pancreato-duodenal area resections.

UNLABELLED: The introduction of markers which help in the identification of patients prone to suffer from postoperative complications enables to recognize them more easily and thus, treat them more effectively. THE AIM OF THE STUDY was to evaluate complete blood count indicators, as well as preoperative results obtained on the basis of the POSSUM and P-POSSUM scoring systems, considering the prediction of complications after surgical resections in the pancreato-duodenal area. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A prospective 30-day non-interventional clinical study was conducted on a group of 65 patients who underwent scheduled surgery, due to pancreatic head cancer or chronic pancreatitis. Total pancreatoduodenectomy was performed in 24.1% of patients, while the remaining were subject to hemi-pancreatoduodenectomy. The authors evaluated the preoperative complete blood count parameters, as well as the risk of complications and mortality using the audit POSSUM and P-POSSUM scoring systems. RESULTS: Postoperative complications were observed in 32.4% of patients. The white blood cell count and platelet count in the preoperative period were statistically lower in the group of patients with postoperative complications, in comparison to patients without diagnosed complications. Higher severity scores obtained by means of the P-POSSUM scoring system, as well as higher mortality during the perioperative period can be ascribed to patients who suffered postoperative complications. However, no correlation was found between the occurrence of complications and gender, age, type of resection, preoperative hemoglobin level, absolute lymphocyte count, or numerical value representing the patient's general condition (POSSUM) and predicted postoperative morbidity. CONCLUSIONS: The absolute white blood cell count and total platelet count during the preoperative period may be considered as an indicator of the higher risk of complications during pancreato-duodenal area resections. The usefulness of the POSSUM and P-POSSUM scoring systems is limited. However, the surgical severity index and calculated mortality coefficient risk can facilitate the identification of patients threatened with postoperative complications.