TDK conference 2020

Nowadays, drugs used in anti-cancer therapy can lead to a whole range of negative side effects, such as vomiting, diarrhoea, endotoxaemia, cardiac failure and cachexia. These side effects can seriously impair efficient therapy against cancerous diseases. Therefore, there is an increasing need for complementary products that will not only decrease the discomfort caused by these side-effects but also increase the tolerability of the treatment. Probiotic bacteria, in particular certain Lactobacillus species have been shown to bear immunomodulatory effects and shift inflammatory signals in an anti-inflammatory direction through enhancement of epithelial barrier integrity and interacting with Toll-like receptors.

The aim of our study was to investigate the effect of pre-treatment with a suspension containing 109 heat-inactivated Lactobacillus per millilitre (LAB) in cytostatic-treated mice. In the in vivo experiment 6-week old male NMRI mice (7 animals/group) were treated orally with the LAB suspension (0.2 ml/animal) three-times at three days interval. Following the third LAB administration, one group received 25 mg/kg/day 5-fluouracil (5-FU) IP for four days. Besides the control group, one other group was treated only with 5-FU (positive control), without LAB pre-administration. During the study the behaviour, physical activity, feed and water consumption and body weight alterations of the animals were observed. At the end of the study, 24 hours after the last treatment, the mice were euthanized. The weights of the liver, kidneys, and spleen were measured, and serum samples were collected for the determination of cytokine levels (TNF, IL-6, IL-1 etc.) and for blood biochemistry examinations (ALT, UREA).

The 5-FU treatment significantly decreased the body and organ weights of the animals. LAB pre-treatment has no positive effect on these parameters. To determine the potential beneficial effects of LAB, measurement of biochemical factors is required.