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Gastrointestinal mucositis induced during cancer treatment is considered a serious dose-limiting side effect of chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy. Frequently, interruption of the cancer treatment due to this pathology leads to a reduction in cure rates, increase of treatment costs and decrease life quality of the patient. Natural products such as Bidens pilosa L. (Asteraceae), represent a potential alternative for the treatment of mucositis given its anti-inflammatory properties. In this study, B. pilosa glycolic extract was formulated (BPF) with poloxamer, a mucoadhesive copolymer, was used for treatment of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU)-induced mucositis in mice. As expected, animals only treated with 5-FU (200mg/kg) presented marked weight loss, reduction of intestinal villi, crypts and muscular layer, which was associated with severe disruption of crypts, edema, inflammatory infiltrate and vacuolization in the intestinal tissue, as compared to the control group and healthy animals only treated with BPF. On the other hand, the treatment of intestinal mucositis-bearing mice with BPF (75, 100 or 125mg/kg) managed to mitigate clinical and pathologic changes, noticeably at 100mg/kg. This dose led to the restoration of intestinal proliferative activity through increasing Ki-67 levels; modulated the expression of Bax, Bcl2 and p53 apoptotic markers protecting intestinal cells from cell death. Moreover, this treatment regulated lipid peroxidation and inflammatory infiltration. No acute toxic effects were observed with this formulation. This work demonstrated that BPF was safe and effective against 5-FU-induced intestinal mucositis in mice. Additional studies are already in progress to further characterize the mechanisms involved in the protective effects of this technological formulation toward the development of a new medicine for the prevention and treatment of intestinal injury in patients undergoing chemotherapy/radiotherapy.

Introdução: A mucosite intestinal é um dos efeitos adversos limitantes das terapias antineoplásicas. Não existe tratamento realmente efetivo direcionado a cura deste efeito colateral grave. A Curcuma longa L. tem sido proposta como candidata ao tratamento de várias doenças por possuir propriedades antioxidante, antitumoral e anti-inflamatória. Objetivo: Este estudo objetivou avaliar os efeitos da formulação mucoadesiva com extrato de Curcuma longa L. (FMCL) em animais portadores de mucosite intestinal induzida por 5-FU. Métodos: Camundongos Swiss adultos, machos (35-40g) foram aleatoriamente alocados em três grupos experimentais de 5 animais cada: [1] controle (formulação mucoadesiva 0.6mL/animal, via gavagem, do dia 1-6); [2] exposto ao 5-fluorouracil (5-FU 200mg/kg, i.p., dos dias 4-6), [3] tratado profilaticamente e ao curso da mucosite com FMCL e exposto ao 5-FU (FMCL 15mg/kg, via gavagem dos dias 1-6, mais 5-FU 200mg/kg, i.p., dos dias 4-6). No sétimo dia, os animais foram anestesiados por xilazina-ketamina seguido por deslocamento cervical. Amostras de duodeno, 10 cm após o esfíncter pilórico, foram coletadas para realização dos ensaios. Os parâmetros avaliados foram: avaliação de massa corporal, análise morfométrica e histopatológica, apoptose (p53/Bax; Bcl-2), proliferação celular (Ki-67), mieloperoxidase (MPO) e malondialdeído (MDA) Resultados: A administração de 5-FU induziu mucosite intestinal caracterizada por encurtamento das vilosidades, aprofundamento das criptas, intenso infiltrado infla-matório, vacuolização e edema na mucosa. Além disso, o 5-FU induziu grave redução de massa corporal nos camundongos e apoptose nas células das vilosida-des e criptas, quando comparado ao grupo controle (p

Introduction: Intestinal mucositis is a frequent limiting factor in anticancer therapy and there is currently no broadly effective treatment targeted to cure this side effect. Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the effects of a mucoadhesive formulation containing curcuminoids (MFC) from Curcuma longa L. on the pathogenesis of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU)-induced intestinal mucositis. Methods: Three intraperitoneal 5-FU injections (200 mg/kg) were used to induce intestinal mucositis in adult Swiss male mice. Treatment was provided orally (MFC 3.75, 7.5 and 15 mg/kg), thirty minutes before 5-FU injections, daily until euthanasia. Duodenal samples were collected to perform morphometric and histopathological analysis, to investigate the expression of Ki-67, p53, Bax and Bcl-2 by immunohistochemistry, to evaluate neutrophil activity myeloperoxidase (MPO)-mediated and oxidative stress by malondialdehyde (MDA) determination. Mice body weight was assessed as well. Results: As expected, 5-FU induced a significant weight loss (∼17%, P