Efeito do pré-tratamento com L-arginina na mucosite intestinal induzida por 5-Fluorouracil em camundongos

Abstract

Cancer and its treatment affect patients health status as well as their quality of life. Chemotherapy, one of the therapies employed, is based on the use of drugs which retard or inhibit tumor growth. 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) is one of the antineoplastic drugs commonly used in the treatment of cancer. However, it may cause serious side effects such as mucositis. This is characterized by inflammation that affects the gastrointestinal, increasing permeability as well as causing abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, which worsen the nutritional status. Therefore, it is important to assess potential novel treatment options that may positively impact the outcome of such complication. Beneficial effects of L-arginine in immune response and bowel function have been reported. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of a 2% L-arginine water supplementation pretreatment on mucositis induced by 5-FU (single dose of 200mg/kg body weight) in Swiss male mice. We evaluated the effect of L-arginine on weight, food and water intake, morphology and inflammatory score of the small intestine, oxidative stress, cell infiltrate and intestinal permeability. Intestinal length improvement was observed, as well as partial recovery of the mucosal architecture, intermediate reduction of inflammatory score and neutrophil infiltration, in addition to improvement of intestinal permeability. Arginine supplementation did not prevent weight loss after the administration of 5-FU. In conclusion, L-arginine is able to partially improve intestinal mucositis, promoting mucosal recovery, reduction of inflammation and improvement of intestinal permeability.