Research Information System
FOOD SCIENCE & NUTRITION, vol.2024, pp.1-11, 2024 (SCI-Expanded)
Intestinal mucositis poses a significant concern associated with cancer therapy. This
study aims to investigate the protective and/or healing effect of fig seed oil (FSO) on
5-fluorouracil (5-FU)-induced intestinal mucositis by targeting inflammatory markers and histologic changes in rats. Albino Wistar adult rats were randomly divided
into four groups, including three male and three female animals. All the animals in
the four groups had a normal standard diet and water throughout the experimental
period, which lasted up to 11 days. Rats were administered FSO 0.6 mL (mucositis
FSO group) and FSO 0.2 mL (mucositis FSO-R group) daily throughout the experiment. These two groups and one additional group (mucositis group) were given an
intraperitoneal injection of 5-FU (300 mg/kg) on Day 5 of the experiment. In contrast, the fourth group (Control group) was given an intraperitoneal saline injection
on Day 5 of the experiment. FSO treatment ameliorated 5-FU-induced intestinal
mucositis. On immunohistologic examination, FSO suppressed significantly the activation of NF-κB and expression of IL-β and TNF-α of the harvested intestinal tissue.
The reduced dose FSO (mucositis FSO-R) was as effective as the full dose (mucositis FSO) in suppressing IL-β and TNF-α production, but was not as effective as the
full dose in suppressing NF-κB. On light microscopy, FSO attenuated significantly
5-FU-induced anomalies, such as the reduction of intestinal villus length and Goblet
cell count. The reduced dose FSO (mucositis FSO-R) was as effective as the full dose
(mucositis FSO) in restoring villus length, but was not as effective as the full dose
in restoring Goblet cell count. The findings of the study suggest that FSO inhibits
5-FU-induced intestinal mucositis via modulation of mucosal inflammation.