Faculty, Staff and Student Publications
Publication Date
10-1-2023
Journal
Brain, Behavior, & Immunity
Abstract
Fatigue among patients with head and neck cancer (HNC) has been associated with higher inflammation. Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) have been shown to have anti-inflammatory and immunoregulatory effects. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the association between SCFAs and fatigue among patients with HNC undergoing treatment with radiotherapy with or without concurrent chemotherapy. Plasma SCFAs and the Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory-20 were collected prior to and one month after the completion of treatment in 59 HNC patients. The genome-wide gene expression profile was obtained from blood leukocytes prior to treatment. Lower butyrate concentrations were significantly associated with higher fatigue (p = 0.013) independent of time of assessment, controlling for covariates. A similar relationship was observed for iso/valerate (p = 0.025). Comparison of gene expression in individuals with the top and bottom 33% of butyrate or iso/valerate concentrations prior to radiotherapy revealed 1,088 and 881 significantly differentially expressed genes, respectively (raw p < 0.05). The top 10 Gene Ontology terms from the enrichment analyses revealed the involvement of pathways related to cytokines and lipid and fatty acid biosynthesis. These findings suggest that SCFAs may regulate inflammatory and immunometabolic responses and, thereby, reduce inflammatory-related symptoms, such as fatigue.
Keywords
Humans, Prospective Studies, Fatty Acids, Volatile, Butyrates, Head and Neck Neoplasms, Valerates, Fatigue, Short chain fatty acids, fatigue, inflammation, gene expression, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, head and neck cancer
DOI
10.1016/j.bbi.2023.07.025
PMID
37543249
PMCID
PMC10528227
PubMedCentral® Posted Date
10-1-2024
PubMedCentral® Full Text Version
Author MSS
Published Open-Access
yes
Included in
Bioinformatics Commons, Biomedical Informatics Commons, Genetic Phenomena Commons, Medical Genetics Commons, Oncology Commons, Otolaryngology Commons, Otorhinolaryngologic Diseases Commons