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Abstract
Background: Armillariella oral solution (AOS) shows therapeutic effect on gastrointestinal disorders. We aimed to investigate the potential efficacy of AOS on chemotherapy-induced intestinal mucositis in mice.
Methods: Intestinal mucositis was induced in C57BL/6 mice by daily intraperitoneal injection of 5-FU (50 mg/kg) for 7 days. Effects of AOS (at 1, 5, and 10 mL/kg), or combined Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus (CBL, 450 mg/kg) on the accompanying morphometry and histology, expression of Ki-67, caspase-3, Lgr5 and apoptosis of intestinal crypt cells were assessed.
Results: Continuous administration of 5-FU to mice caused severe intestinal mucositis, which was histologically characterized by the destruction of intestinal crypts and shortening of villi, accompanied by diarrhea and body weight loss. Daily AOS administration dose-dependently reduced the severity of intestinal mucositis, diarrhea and body weight loss. Similar beneficial effects were observed with CBL. The expression of Ki-67 and Lgr5 decreased and the expression of caspase-3, and the number of apoptotic cells increased 24 h after the first 5-FU administration (P < 0.05), and these responses were significantly reduced by AOS treatment (P < 0.05, at 5 or 10 mL/kg).
Conclusions: AOS can alleviate 5-FU-induced mucositis in mice via increasing Lgr5 expression and suppressing apoptotic responses in the intestinal crypt cells.
Acknowledgments
This work was done in Department of Chinese Integrated Medicine Oncology, First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui Province, China. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NO. 81774051).
Disclosure Statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.