Cachexia is a wasting disorder characterized by loss of muscle and adipose tissue that cannot be reversed by feeding. Pancreatic, esophageal, stomach, lung, liver and bowel cancers show a high co-morbidity with cachexia. Cachexia is also associated with non-cancerous diseases including heart failure, kidney disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. People with cachexia experience poor quality of life and succumb to their disease more rapidly. The aetiology and pathogenesis of cachexia are unknown. The disorder is treated by nutritional interventions and there are currently no licensed pharmacological treatments.
Muscle depletion has long been considered the hallmark of cachexia. Over the last 20 years the role that adipose tissue plays in cachexia is becoming more appreciated. Adipose tissue comprises adipocyte cells containing triglyceride, a lipid. Fatty acids, phospholipids and cholesterol are also designated lipids. These are important biological molecules required for maintenance of the cell membrane, energy storage and signaling. Due to their hydrophobic nature, lipids circulate in blood bound to lipoproteins; complexes of lipid aggregates and protein, and hydrophilic proteins containing hydrophobic binding pockets such as albumin or fatty acid binding proteins.
Currently it is understood that in cachexia proinflammatory cytokines and proteins released by tumors trigger white adipose tissue loss via lipolysis and the conversion of white energy storing adipocytes into beige energy burning adipocytes. Hyperlipidaemia and lipid deposition in muscle are markers of cachexia. Diets supplemented with omega 3 polyunsaturated fatty acids cause pancreatic cancer patients to gain weight and lengthen survival compared with those fed conventional diets. Lipoproteins, albumin and fatty acid binding proteins act as vehicles for the transport and delivery of hydrophobic drugs. Lipid nanodiscs have shown promise for the delivery of drugs to cancer tumors.
The goal of this Research Topic is to better understand the broad role lipids play in the aetiology and pathogenesis of cachexia and showcase the development of new lipid related nutritional and pharmacological cachexia treatments. We wish to encompass molecular, cellular, animal and human studies in the fields of chemistry, biochemistry, cell biology, immunology, nutrition and pharmacology in this Research Topic.
Articles can be submitted to one of four themes:
- Molecular mechanisms of cachexia
- Biomarkers for cachexia
- Nutritional treatment
- Pharmacological treatment
We welcome Original and Brief Research Reports, Reviews, Minireviews and Systematic Reviews
Dr. Aaron Zefrin Fernandis is an employee of the Singapore branch of Merck Sharp & Dohme International GmBH, a pharmaceutical company. All other Topic Editors declare no conflicts of interest
Keywords:
metabolism, Lipids, cachexia, nutrition, treatment
Important Note:
All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
Cachexia is a wasting disorder characterized by loss of muscle and adipose tissue that cannot be reversed by feeding. Pancreatic, esophageal, stomach, lung, liver and bowel cancers show a high co-morbidity with cachexia. Cachexia is also associated with non-cancerous diseases including heart failure, kidney disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. People with cachexia experience poor quality of life and succumb to their disease more rapidly. The aetiology and pathogenesis of cachexia are unknown. The disorder is treated by nutritional interventions and there are currently no licensed pharmacological treatments.
Muscle depletion has long been considered the hallmark of cachexia. Over the last 20 years the role that adipose tissue plays in cachexia is becoming more appreciated. Adipose tissue comprises adipocyte cells containing triglyceride, a lipid. Fatty acids, phospholipids and cholesterol are also designated lipids. These are important biological molecules required for maintenance of the cell membrane, energy storage and signaling. Due to their hydrophobic nature, lipids circulate in blood bound to lipoproteins; complexes of lipid aggregates and protein, and hydrophilic proteins containing hydrophobic binding pockets such as albumin or fatty acid binding proteins.
Currently it is understood that in cachexia proinflammatory cytokines and proteins released by tumors trigger white adipose tissue loss via lipolysis and the conversion of white energy storing adipocytes into beige energy burning adipocytes. Hyperlipidaemia and lipid deposition in muscle are markers of cachexia. Diets supplemented with omega 3 polyunsaturated fatty acids cause pancreatic cancer patients to gain weight and lengthen survival compared with those fed conventional diets. Lipoproteins, albumin and fatty acid binding proteins act as vehicles for the transport and delivery of hydrophobic drugs. Lipid nanodiscs have shown promise for the delivery of drugs to cancer tumors.
The goal of this Research Topic is to better understand the broad role lipids play in the aetiology and pathogenesis of cachexia and showcase the development of new lipid related nutritional and pharmacological cachexia treatments. We wish to encompass molecular, cellular, animal and human studies in the fields of chemistry, biochemistry, cell biology, immunology, nutrition and pharmacology in this Research Topic.
Articles can be submitted to one of four themes:
- Molecular mechanisms of cachexia
- Biomarkers for cachexia
- Nutritional treatment
- Pharmacological treatment
We welcome Original and Brief Research Reports, Reviews, Minireviews and Systematic Reviews
Dr. Aaron Zefrin Fernandis is an employee of the Singapore branch of Merck Sharp & Dohme International GmBH, a pharmaceutical company. All other Topic Editors declare no conflicts of interest
Keywords:
metabolism, Lipids, cachexia, nutrition, treatment
Important Note:
All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.