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The Colon-26 Carcinoma Tumor-bearing Mouse as a Model for the Study of Cancer Cachexia
Published on: November 30, 2016
Treatment of cachexia: melanocortin and ghrelin interventions
Jeremy Steinman1, Mark Daniel DeBoer
1Division of Pediatric Endocrinology, Department of Pediatrics, P.O. Box 800386, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA.
Abstract:
Cachexia is a condition typified by wasting of fat and LBM caused by anorexia and further endocrinological modulation of energy stores. Diseases known to cause cachectic symptoms include cancer, chronic kidney disease, and chronic heart failure; these conditions are associated with increased levels of proinflammatory cytokines and increased resting energy expenditure. Early studies have suggested the central melanocortin system as one of the main mediators of the symptoms of cachexia. Pharmacological and genetic antagonism of these pathways attenuates cachectic symptoms in laboratory models; effects have yet to be studied in humans. In addition, ghrelin, an endogenous orexigenic hormone with receptors on melanocortinergic neurons, has been shown to ameliorate symptoms of cachexia, at least in part, by an increase in appetite via melanocortin modulation, in addition to its anticatabolic and anti-inflammatory effects. These effects of ghrelin have been confirmed in multiple types of cachexia in both laboratory and human studies, suggesting a positive future for cachexia treatments.
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