Markers of Bioenergetic Changes in Liver Tissue from Young and Old Tumor-Bearing Mice

Cancer cachexia is a hypermetabolic wasting disorder where energy output exceeds energy input, leading to bioenergetic changes in whole-body metabolic regulation. The liver is an important organ in glucose, fat, and amino acid metabolism. There is limited evidence suggesting both cancer and aging negatively affect these metabolic pathways; however, very little is known about these pathways when cancer cachexia is induced in older, age-appropriate mice. The purpose of this study was to examine changes in biomarkers of bioenergetics in the liver tissue of young and old cachectic mice. Young and old mice were divided into PBS control or LLC tumor-bearing mice. Tissues were collected after tumor development and underwent genetic analysis. Results indicate that there are differences in the differential expression of genes between the experimental and control groups.