Background: Inflammation is widely recognized as the driving force of cachexia induced by chronic diseases; however, therapies targeting inflammation do not always reverse cachexia. Thus, whether inflammation per se plays an important role in the clinical course of cachectic patients is still a matter of debate.
Aims: To give new insights into cachexia's pathogenesis and diagnosis, we performed a comprehensive literature search on the contribution of inflammatory markers to this syndrome, focusing on the noncommunicable diseases cancer and cardiovascular diseases.
Methods: A systematic review was performed in PubMed using the keywords ("cancer" OR "cardiac" cachexia AND "human" OR "patient" AND "plasma" or "serum"). A total of 744 studies were retrieved and, from these, 206 were selected for full-text screening. In the end, 98 papers focusing on circulating biomarkers of cachexia were identified, which resulted in a list of 113 different mediators.
Results: Data collected from the literature highlight the contribution of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and C-reactive protein (CRP) to cachexia, independently of the underlying condition. Despite not being specific, once the diagnosis of cachexia is established, CRP might help to monitor the effectiveness of anti-cachexia therapies. In cardiac diseases, B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP), renin, and obestatin might be putative markers of body wasting, whereas in cancer, growth differentiation factor (GDF) 15, transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1 and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) C seem to be better markers of this syndrome. Independently of the circulating mediators, NF-κB and JAK/STAT signaling pathways play a key role in bridging inflammation with muscle wasting; however, therapies targeting these pathways were not proven effective for all cachectic patients.
Conclusion: The critical and integrative analysis performed herein will certainly feed future research focused on the better comprehension of cachexia pathogenesis toward the improvement of its diagnosis and the development of personalized therapies targeting specific cachexia phenotypes.
Keywords: Biomarker; Body wasting; Cancer; Cardiovascular diseases; Inflammation.
© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.