Human use of Leucoselect® Phytosome® with special reference to inflammatory-allergic pathologies in frail elderly patients.

Human ageing is characterized by several abnormalities of both innate and adaptive immune responses, thus leading to an increased frequency of infectious, inflammatory, allergic and autoimmune diseases. In elderly patients, among allergic diseases, asthma is a very common pathological event which complicates the dysfunction of many systems. Among a variety of natural products used to modulate the altered immune response, polyphenols have been shown to exert antiinflammatory activities in both young and aged persons. Here, special emphasis will be given to the the immune-modulating effects of Leucoselect® Phytosome® (a dietary supplement enriched in the flavonoid epigallocatechin) administered to frail elderly patients. Leucoselect® Phytosome® was able to upregulate the T helper (Th)1 response [increase in serum concentrations of interleukin (IL)-2 and interferon-γ]. On the other hand, IL-4 serum levels, as an index of Th2 function, fluctuated within normal ranges. Quite interestingly, in this cohort of frail aged patients from South Italy the balance between inflammation (IL-17) and anti-inflammation (IL-10) was preserved, thus suggesting that the Mediterranean diet might have been involved in the observed effects. In conclusion, these data support the ability of Leucoselect® Phytosome® to induce up-regulation of Th1 responses in frail elderly patients which may be beneficial in those patients affected by chronic allergic disorders.

Exocrine pancreatic cancer, cigarette smoking, and diabetes mellitus: a case-control study in northern Italy.

The role of cigarette smoking and diabetes mellitus as risk factors for exocrine pancreatic cancer (PC) was investigated in a hospital based case-control study. Current smokers were at increased risk for PC (OR = 2.36, 95% CI 1.53-3.63): the magnitude of the risk was related to the lifetime amount of smoking (chi2(trend) = 17.00; P < 0.0001). Among former smokers, after 15 years from ceasing smoking, the risk for PC dropped to the level of a lifetime non-smoker, whichever the lifetime smoking amount. Diabetes was associated with a 2.89-fold increased risk for PC (95% CI 1.71-4.86): the risk was 4.76 (95% CI 1.99-11.53) for diabetes diagnosed up to 2 years before the diagnosis of PC and dropped to 2.07 (95% CI 1.02-4.20) for diabetes diagnosed more than 5 years before PC. The risk for PC was estimated according to the treatment used to control diabetes: it was 6.49 (95% CI 2.28-18.48) for insulin treated diabetes and 2.12 (95% CI 1.16-3.87) for diabetes treated with oral hypoglycemic drugs. The risk of PC for diabetes treated for more than 5 years before the diagnosis of PC was 6.21 (95% CI 1.61-23.96) for patients treated with insulin and 1.21 (95% CI 0.50-2.92) for those treated with oral hypoglycemic drugs: the type of treatment needed to control the disease may discriminate between the diabetes that represents a consequence of cancer from the diabetes that could represent an etiological co-factor. More studies are needed to clarify whether long-lasting insulin-treated diabetes is an etiological co-factor in PC.