Vitamin D can mitigate chemotherapy induced gastrointestinal mucositis
Vitamin D can mitigate chemotherapy
induced gastrointestinal mucositis, finds a new study that has appeared in the
journal Supportive and Palliative Care.
Chemotherapy prescribed to kill the
cancer cells is often more debilitating than the cancer itself.
Gastrointestinal mucositis is a
painful inflammation and ulceration of the digestive tract that is a
troublesome adverse outcome of chemotherapy for which no effective treatment
currently exists.
But this bleak outlook may be about
to change, according to University of South Australia researchers who say
Vitamin D could potentially mitigate inflamed intestinal tracts and provide
relief to cancer patients.
A new study undertaken by Dr Andrea
Stringer, Associate Professor Paul Anderson and PhD student Cyan Sylvester
highlights the limited options for easing the gastrointestinal side effects of
chemotherapy, singling out Vitamin D and probiotics as the most promising.
"We already know that Vitamin D
helps in the absorption of calcium, but new findings suggest it may also play
an important role in chemotherapy-induced intestinal mucositis," says
Sylvester, the lead author of a recent paper reviewing new therapeutic
strategies for combatting gastrointestinal toxicity.
"The severity and progression
of various gastrointestinal diseases, such as irritable bowel syndrome and
colorectal cancer, is associated with Vitamin D deficiency," she says.
"It appears that Vitamin D helps suppress inflammation and enhances the
function of T-cells which boosts immunity."
Vitamin D is also thought to improve
the efficacy of certain anti-cancer drugs.
The researchers are now working on
ways to enhance the activity of vitamin D in the intestine as a more viable
option for treating gastrointestinal mucositis.
"We know that Vitamin D
definitely does more than help absorb calcium, but we need to better understand
and optimise its action in the gut before we can be 100 per cent confident that
it could be a treatment option for gastrointestinal mucositis," says Dr
Stringer.
"We are investigating the
effects of enhanced vitamin D activity in the intestine on both reducing damage
and minimising compositional change to the gut microbiome caused by
chemotherapy agents.
" Probiotics (live bacteria and
yeast) have also been widely promoted for digestive health and there is
evidence they reduce the severity of diarrhoea and abdominal pain, but
researchers have not been able to establish the direct effect of probiotics on
intestinal function that reduces these side effects during and following cancer
treatment.
"Vitamin D shows the most
promise and could prove the key hormone to alleviate suffering for cancer
patients," Dr Stringer says.
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