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Research Paper
Oral ingestion of Streptococcus thermophilus Diminishes Severity of Small Intestinal Mucositis in Methotrexate Treated Rats
Katie L Tooley, Gordon S Howarth, Kerry A Lymn, Andrew Lawrence and Ross N Butler
volume 5 | issue 6
june 2006Pages: 593-600
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Background: Currently, there are no available effective preventative or adjunctive agents to alleviate symptoms of chemotherapy-induced mucositis. This is compounded by the absence of a recognized and validated non-invasive biomarker to assess gut function. This study investigated the effects of orally ingested Streptococcus thermophilus (TH-4) on chemotherapy-induced small intestinal damage in rats using the non-invasive 13C-sucrose breath test (SBT). Methods: Gastrointestinal damage was induced in 27 female dark agouti rats (148 ± 1g) with MTX (1.5 mg/kg; i.m.). Rats received MTX or saline at 0 h; with daily treatment of: TH-4 at doses of 109 (high), 108 (low) cfu/mL, or skim milk (vehicle), 48 h pre and 96 h post-MTX. The non-invasive 13C-sucrose breath test (SBT) was conducted at -24, 24 and 96 h post-MTX to monitor gut function. At sacrifice, small intestinal tissues were collected for determinations of sucrase activity, myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity and histological assessment. Results: MTX + vehicle and MTX + low TH-4-treated rats produced significantly lower SBT and sucrase activity results compared to saline controls (p < 0.001). In contrast, MTX + high TH-4 treatment showed no significant differences in the SBT compared to saline controls, and the SBT results were significantly higher compared to MTX + vehicle and MTX + low TH-4 (p < 0.05). MPO levels were significantly elevated (p < 0.05) in MTX + vehicle and MTX + low TH-4, but not following MTX + high TH-4 treatment, compared to saline controls. This was further confirmed by histological analyses. Conclusion: Oral ingestion of TH-4 at 109 cfu/mL is capable of partially attenuating small bowel damage in rats. The non-invasive SBT is a useful technique to longitudinally assess the efficacy of treatments or interventions for small bowel disease.
We now provide open access to journal articles published online for one year or more. This article may be downloaded at the following link:
Download PDFIf the document does not open, please right-click on the link (control-click on a Macintosh) and select the option to save the file to disk.