Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Click here for more infromation

CiteULike is a free service for managing and discovering scholarly references - click here to get started.

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
Nutrition in Clinical Practice
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Herrington, A. M.
Right arrow Articles by Church, C. A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Herrington, A. M.
Right arrow Articles by Church, C. A.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

Pharmacologic Options for the Treatment of Cachexia

Annie M. Herrington, PharmD

Department of Pharmacy Services, Scott & White Memorial Hospital, Texas A&M University Health Science Center, Temple, Texas

Jon D. Herrington, PharmD, BCPS

Department of Pharmacy Services, Scott & White Memorial Hospital, Texas A&M University Health Science Center, Temple, Texas

Charlene A. Church, PharmD

Department of Pharmacy Services, Scott & White Memorial Hospital, Texas A&M University Health Science Center, Temple, Texas

Anorexia and cachexia are prevalent and devastating complications of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and cancer. Cachexia causes not only loss of body mass, but also decreased energy, decreased therapy tolerance, and increased infection susceptibility, all of which lead to a decreased quality of life. Metabolic abnormalities and decreased appetites seem to be responsible for weight loss in cachectic individuals. The release of cytokines has been found to correlate with weight loss and severe anorexia in animal models. The data in humans is not strong as there are problems in the technical aspects of measuring cytokine levels. Agents such as corticosteroids, anabolic steroids, appetite stimulants, progestational agents, metabolic inhibitors, and anticytokine therapy have been studied for AIDS wasting syndrome and cancer cachexia. Megestrol acetate, a progestational appetite stimulant, has shown the most promise for the treatment of both cancer and AIDS-related cachexia. Recent literature suggests that agents such as growth hormone, insulin-like growth factor, and thalidomide may stimulate lean body mass gain rather than fat mass gain. Further study is needed to define the roles of these agents for the treatment of cachexia.

Nutrition in Clinical Practice, Vol. 12, No. 3, 101-113 (1997)
DOI: 10.1177/088453369701200302
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?