Nutraceutical targeting of TLR4 signaling has potential for prevention of cancer cachexia

The mechanisms underlying cancer cachexia – the proximate cause of at least 20% of cancer-related deaths – have until recently remained rather obscure. New
research, however, clarifies that cancers evoking cachexia release microvesicles rich in heat shock proteins 70 and 90, and that these extracellular heat shock proteins
induce cachexia by serving as agonists for toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) in skeletal muscle, macrophages, and adipocytes. Hence, safe nutraceutical measures which can
down-regulate TLR4 signaling can be expected to aid prevention and control of cancer cachexia. There is reason to suspect that phycocyanobilin, ferulic acid, glycine,
long-chain omega-3s, green tea catechins, β-hydroxy-β-methylbutyrate, carnitine, and high-dose biotin may have some utility in this regard.