Title:The Effect of Probiotic and Synbiotic Consumption on the Most Prevalent
Chemotherapy-related Complications: A Systematic Review of
Current Literature
Volume: 29
Issue: 33
Author(s): Arman Arab, Elham Karimi, Mohammad Bagherniya*, Thozhukat Sathyapalan and Amirhossein Sahebkar*
Affiliation:
- Food Security Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
- Anesthesia and Critical Care Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
- Department of Community Nutrition, School of Nutrition and Food Science, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan,
Iran
- Applied Biomedical Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
- Biotechnology Research Center, Pharmaceutical Technology Institute, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences,
Mashhad, Iran
- School of Medicine, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia
- School of Pharmacy, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
Keywords:
Cancer, probiotic, synbiotic, chemotherapy complications, RCTs, mucositis.
Abstract:
Background: To date, many investigations have employed pro-/synbiotic to examine
their effects on chemotherapy-related side effects; nevertheless, their findings are inconclusive.
To address this issue, we carried out a systematic review to explore the effect of pro-
/synbiotic consumption on chemotherapy-related side effects, including nausea, vomiting, mucositis,
diarrhea, and constipation in adults using randomized controlled trials (RCTs).
Methods: The electronic databases, including PubMed, Scopus, and ISI Web of Sciences,
were searched systematically from the earliest available date to March 2021 to identify eligible
studies. The quality of the enrolled studies was assessed based on the Cochrane
Collaboration Risk of Bias tool.
Results: A total of 10 studies involving 788 individuals were included in the current
systematic review, with the sample size ranging from 25 to 200 and the mean age ranging
from 51.04 to 66.91 years. The findings of this study imply that probiotic consumption
may be more effective in terms of mucositis compared to other complications.
Conclusion: Further good-quality RCTs with better methodology are required to determine
whether and how pro-/synbiotics can prevent or treat chemotherapy-induced side effects.
The current systematic review findings may help investigators of future studies in
selecting the study population and probiotic strains.