Wheat bran arabinoxylan supplementation alleviates 5-fluorouracil induced mucositis and myelosuppression in BALB/c mice

• Chemotherapy induces adverse effects including mucositis and myelosuppression.
• Wheat arabinoxylan suppressed intestinal inflammation induced by 5-fluorouracil.
• Wheat arabinoxylan effectively recovered lymphocyte counts in 5-FU treated animals.
• Arabinoxylan is a candidate complementary agent applicable during cancer treatment.

The effect of arabinoxylan (AX) on chemotherapy-induced intestinal mucositis and myelosuppression was investigated. BALB/c mice were divided into 5 groups and subjected to either intraperitoneal injection of vehicle for group 1 or 5-fluouracil (5-FU) for groups 2, 3, 4 and 5. Animals in groups 1 and 2 were fed with standard diet, whereas those in groups 3 and 4 were fed with diet supplemented with 2.5 or 5% of AX, respectively. Animals in group 5 were fed with diet supplemented with 5% L-glutamine (GLN). The animals were sacrificed on the 10th day post 5-FU administration. The loss of body weight and diarrhoea were significantly alleviated only in GLN group. Animals in AX and GLN group showed significantly higher thymus weight and decreased protein expression of inflammatory mediators, less apoptotic activity and higher proliferating activity in their intestinal mucosa compared to 5-FU control group. These results suggest AX supplementation effectively improved intestinal mucositis and myelosuppression.