This study aimed to determine Cu/Zn ratio, nutritional and inflammatory status in patients during the perioperative period for colorectal cancer. The study included patients with histological diagnosis of colorectal adenocarcinoma (Cancer Group, n=46) and healthy volunteers (Control Group, n=28). We determined habitual food intake, body composition, laboratory data of nutritional status, serum calprotectin and plasma Cu and Zn concentrations. Mann-Whitney U-test was performed between-group comparisons and Spearman correlation test for correlations between the variables. Individuals in the Cancer Group presented significantly lower BMI, fat mass, plasma hemoglobin, total protein and albumin as compared with the Control Group. Serum calprotectin[70.1 ng/mL (CI95% 55.8-84.5) vs.53.3 ng/mL (40.3-66.4), p=0.05], plasma Cu concentrations [120 µg/dL(CI95% 114-126) vs. 106 µg/dL(CI95% 98-114), p<0.01] and the Cu/Zn ratio [1.59 (CI95% 1.48-1.71)vs. 1.35 (CI95% 1.23-1.46), p=0.01]were higher in patients with colorectal cancer than in controls. Additionally, the Cancer Group showed negative correlations between the Cu/Zn ratio and Zn intake, hemoglobin, serum albumin, and positive correlation between the Cu/Zn ratio and serum calprotectin. These results indicate that an increased plasma Cu/Zn ratio and serum calprotectin, and decreased protein values may be a result of the systemic inflammatory response to the tumor process.

• A tea from the leaves and flowers of hawthorn is rich in flavonoids, especially vitexin-2-O-rhamnoside. • Mesalamine and hawthorn tea have positive healing effects in rats with colitis. • Hawthorn tea reduces the length and area of the brownish necrotic lesions. • Hawthorn tea diminishes the levels of the inflammatory markers MPO and IL-1β. • Hawthorn tea regulates the activity of the oxidative stress enzymes CAT and GR.

Solanum lycocarpum St. Hil. is considered a natural anti-inflammatory. In traditional medicine, it is used to reduce cholesterol levels in the treatment of obesity. Foods capable of conferring a protective and nutritious effect have been used to prevent or attenuate the clinical symptoms of inflammatory bowel diseases. Ulcerative colitis is a multifactorial inflammatory bowel disease. This study investigated the impact of the consumption of the fibrous fraction (FF) and resistant starch (RS) of fruta-do-lobo in an experimental model of colitis induced with the use 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulphonic acid (TNBS) in rats. The different colitis groups all experienced decreased weight gain, which could be linked to the inflammatory process (p = 0.603). Additionally, the experimental model led to increased oxidative stress, higher levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines, and the elevated gene expression of these cytokines. Despite this, consuming the fibrous fraction of fruta-do-lobo (RS and FF) did not appear to protect the animals against the inflammatory process. Regarding the expression of TNF-α, only the group treated with the drug mesalamine had a reduced serum level of this inflammatory marker (p = 0.03). Our results showed that the diet containing RS and FF did not protect the intestinal mucosa against TNBS inflammation. New studies on the variation in the time of consumption or the supplemented dose of fruta-do-lobo fibers could help to elucidate their effects in protecting the mucosa.

We present an introduction to the mathematical theory of the Lagrangian formalism for multiform fields on Minkowski spacetime based on the multiform and extensor calculus. Our formulation gives a unified mathematical description for the main relativistic field theories including the gravitational field (which however will be discussed in a separate paper). We worked out several examples (including tricks of the trade), from simple to very sophisticated ones (like, e.g., the Dirac-Hestenes field on the more general gravitational background) which show the power and beauty of the formalism.