Colon Cancer Breakthrough Could Lead to Prevention — And the Foods That Can Help
Colon cancer, Crohn’s, and other diseases of the gut could be better treated — or even prevented — thanks to a new link between inflammation and a common cellular process.
Foods such as pomegranates, red grapes, pears, mushrooms, lentils, soybeans and green peas contain natural compounds which can activate autophagy, an essential process whereby cells break down and recycle harmful or damaged elements within themselves to keep our bodies.
Understanding this link could lead to more effective treatments for gut diseases – such as colon cancer, irritable bowel syndrome, Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis – giving healthcare professionals the ability to target the root cause of these diseases, by regulating and controlling autophagy.
In a new paper published in Nature Communications, Dr Nezis and colleagues at the University of Warwick have identified for the first time a protein regulated by autophagy. Called Kenny, the protein contains a motif of amino acids that causes itself to be broken down by autophagy. When autophagy is dysfunctional, Kenny accumulates and causes inflammation.
The researchers identified this phenomenon in fruit flies, by turning Kenny fluorescent so it would be visible and observing at a microscopic level that the protein was present in the cell where autophagy was occurring.
They also noted that dysfunctional autophagy causes serious inflammation in fruit flies – particularly in the gut – which makes tissue inflamed, causing disease, and making the lifespan of a fruit fly half that of other flies. To prevent serious diseases of the gut caused by inflammation, Dr Nezis and his colleagues state that it is necessary to find ways to control and regulate autophagy.
Humans are in even more danger from the link between autophagy, inflammation, and a dysfunctional or diseased gut – because our bodies lack the regular motif of amino acids which Kenny uses in fruit flies, making its breakdown by autophagy difficult to control or regulate.
Dr Ioannis Nezis, the lead author of the research, commented: “Understanding the molecular mechanisms of selective autophagy and inflammation will help to use interventions to activate the autophagic pathway to prevent inflammation and promote healthy well-being during the life course.
“Natural compounds contained in fruits and vegetables like pomegranates, red grapes, pears, mushrooms, lentils, soybeans and green peas have been shown to activate autophagy, therefore inclusion of the above in our diet would help to prevent inflammation and alleviate the symptoms of gut diseases.”
The paper, ‘Kenny mediates selective autophagic degradation of the IKK complex to control innate immune responses’, will be published in Nature Communications.
Obesity Linked to Lower Remission, Higher Disability In Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients
Patients with rheumatoid arthritis whose body-mass index scores are higher have lower rates of remission and higher rates of disability, and effective weight screening and management should be a central feature of RA management, according to new research findings presented this week at the 2017 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting in San Diego.
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic disease that causes pain, stiffness, swelling, and limitation in the motion and function of multiple joints. Though joints are the principal body parts affected by RA, inflammation can develop in other organs as well. An estimated 1.3 million Americans have RA, and the disease typically affects women twice as often as men.
There are established links between inflammation, obesity and joint dysfunction. Researchers in the United Kingdom conducted a study to more clearly define how these conditions translate into clinical disease activity and functional disability in RA patients. The study explored associations between body-mass index (BMI) and both the achievement of disease remission or low disease activity and functional ability in RA.
“Obesity is increasing in prevalence and represents a global health concern. It has been implicated as a risk factor for developing RA, and is an increasingly prevalent comorbidity seen on first presentation of RA,” said Elena Nikiphorou, MD, a researcher in the Academic Rheumatology Department at King’s College, London, and a lead author of the study. “There is growing recognition that the inflammatory states mediated by obesity and those by inflammatory rheumatic diseases share common pathways. Some have suggested that in fact, obesity is a low-grade, chronic inflammatory condition. Thus, in RA co-existing with obesity, both autoimmune and obesity-mediated inflammatory states may work together, affecting disease activity and consequently important disease outcomes and quality of life.”
The researchers used data from two consecutive, multicenter RA inception cohorts with similar design, both in the United Kingdom: the Early RA Study (ERAS) and the Early RA Network (ERAN). Recruitment figures and median follow-up were 1,465/10 years with a maximum of 25 years for the ERAS patients, 1,236/six years with a maximum of 10 years for the ERAN patients. The researchers recorded standard demographic and clinical variables at baseline and then annually until loss to follow-up or the end of study follow-up.
The baseline BMI data from 90 percent of the RA patients showed that 37.2 percent were overweight and 21.3 percent were obese. The mean BMI at baseline was 25.5 in the ERAS group and 27.6 in the ERAN group, and this increased over five years. In models that adjusted for age, sex and year of recruitment, higher BMI was associated with reduced odds of the patients achieving Remission-DAS (R-DAS) and Low-DAS (L-DAS) scores, two key measurements of low disease activity. Higher BMI also predicted higher disability rates among these patients. Specifically, obesity increased a patient’s odds of higher disability by 63 percent, and higher DAS scores also strongly predicted higher disability.
“Our study’s findings demonstrate the increasing prevalence of obesity in RA patients and its negative consequences on disease activity, achieving a treat-to-target low disease activity goal and good functional outcomes,” said Dr. Nikiphorou. “Obesity is potentially a reversible comorbidity and sucessfully treating it can contribute to better disease activity and functional outcomes. Based on our data, there is a strong argument to include obesity screening and management as a central part of all treatment plans for RA patients.”