The current study were to examine the expression of TRAF6 and ubiquitin in skeletal muscle specimens of patients with gastric cancer, to explore the possible correlation

among TRAF6, ubiquitin mRNA expression and cachexia. Methods Patients and tissue samples Skeletal muscle tissues were collected from one hundred and two patients with gastric cancer (median age 61.0y, range 42–88y; 24 male, 10 female) from the Department of Surgery, Zhejiang Provincial People’s Hospital from January 2008 to January 2011. Patients’ characteristics are showed in Table 1. Diagnosis of gastric cancer was performed by endoscopic biopsy. Twenty-nine patients undergoing surgery for benign abdominal diseases served as a control group, there were 12 cholelithiasis, 9 inguinal hernia, 8 hemangioma of liver. Gastric CA-4948 datasheet cancer patients and controls were similar in terms of age and sex distribution. Nevertheless, gastric cancer patients showed a significantly lower body mass index,

serum albumin levels and prognostic nutritional index. Exclusion criteria for both groups were considered: acute or chronic renal failure, liver failure, diabetes, metabolic acidosis, sepsis, AIDS, inflammatory bowel disease, autoimmune disorders, chronic heart failure, and hyperthyroidism. The study was approved AZD1390 nmr by our hospital ethics committees. Written informed consent for the study procedures was obtained from the patients. Table 1 Summary of characteristics of gastric cancer patients and control   Controls (n = 29) Gastric cancer (n = 102) t/χ 2 P Value Age, y 61.88 ± 6.49 62.13 ± 6.54 0.053 0.959 Sex (M:F) 21:8 72:30 0.037 0.848 Weight loss 65.50 ± 4.84 57.38 ± 6.28 2.899 0.012 BMI 24.13 ± 1.81 21.00 ± 1.31 3.96 0.001 Serum albumin, g/L 41.38 ± 6.09 Protein kinase N1 33.75 ± 3.11 3.15 0.007 PNI 45.25 ± 3.62 37.18 ± 3.74 5.26 0.0001 Nutritional assessment The nutritional assessment included anthropometric [height, actual body weight, %WL, body mass index (BMI), usual body weight], immunological (total

lymphocyte count), and biochemical (serum albumin) indexes. Routine blood test was determined using completely automatic blood cell count analyzer (Beckman-Coulter -MAXM, American). Liver function was determined using Completely automatic biochemistry analyzer (Beckman-Coulter SYNCHRON LX 20, American) (Table 1). The PNI(prognostic nutritional index) was calculated as follows: PNI = 10 × serum albumin(g/100 ml) + 0.005 × total lymphocyte count/mm3 of peripheral blood [11]. Muscle biopsy A biopsy specimen was obtained from the rectus see more abdominis muscle during the initial phase of the operation. The anterior sheet of the rectus abdominis muscle was opened with scissors after skin incision and dissection through the subcutaneous fat, and a muscle biopsy specimen weighing about 1.0 g was obtained.