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Background Enriched environment is a paradigm where animals are introduced to novel, complex, and stimulating surroundings that can protect the intestinal mucosal barrier and regulate the expression of brain-gut peptides. Probiotics can effectively protect the intestinal mucosal barrier and regulate brain-gut axis activity in colorectal cancer patients. This study assessed the effects of probiotics, enriched environment, and joint intervention on the intestinal mucosal barrier and brain-gut axis in rats with colorectal cancer. Methods We used a rat model of 1,2-dimethylhydrazine-induced colorectal cancer. Rats were housed in four different conditions for 2 weeks: enriched environment, probiotic,joint condition and normal condition. Each rat was weighed, and the intestinal mucosa and plasma levels of tumor TNF-α, IL-6, IL-10, ghrelin, CRF, occludin, BT, SIgA and the morphology of the intestinal mucosa were measured. Results enriched environment was beneficial regarding bacteria translation, plasma and intestinal mucosa levels of cytokines, plasma CRF levels, villi length and width of intestinal mucosa and hypothalamus ghrelin compared to probiotic (P 0.05). Conclusions The effect of enriched environment was better than probiotic, especially in the intestinal mucosal immune and biological barrier in rats with colorectal cancer. However, the combination of the two was not as effective as enriched environment. In future studies, we can investigate the role of environment and probiotics in SIgA, intestinal mucosal mechanical barrier and body weight by extending the intervention time and enlarging the sample size.

Exercise can be beneficial for patients with colorectal cancer; however, few studies have evaluated the effect of exercise on cancer-related fatigue and quality of life.To assess the efficacy of physical exercise for patients with colorectal cancer during treatment, we conducted a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Databases, including PubMed, Ovid, Embase, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and the China National Knowledge Infrastructure database were searched to identify suitable studies. Stata 12.0 was used for statistical analysis, and sensitivity analysis was conducted. Nine, five, three, and five studies included data that could be evaluated to assess the effects of physical exercise on cancer-related fatigue, cognitive factors, social factors, and physical factors, respectively, in patients with colorectal cancer during treatment. Ten studies, including 934 patients, were selected for meta-analysis, including five each published in the English and Chinese languages.Significant effects of exercise were detected for cancer-related fatigue (standardized mean difference (SMD) = -1.34, p0.001) and social factors (SMD = 0.67, p = 0.012). Moderate intensity exercise and exercise for less than 12 weeks were identified as effective for preventing cancer-related fatigue. Further, exercise can also improve the level of social support experienced by patients; however, our data indicate that exercise has no significant effect on cognitive or physiological factors.Medium intensity exercise can effectively reduce cancer-related fatigue and improve the quality of life of patients with colorectal cancer.