CHEMOTHERAPY: Probiotics to cleanse toxins

Adapting bioremediation to the depollution of the intestinal microbiota

Good bacteria know how to take care of intestinal health: These specific types of intestinal bacteria, tested in vitro here in the form of communities, can protect other good bacteria that fight the toxicity of some cancer treatments by mitigating harmful chemotherapy-induced changes in the gut microbiome. By metabolizing chemotherapy drugs, the protective bacteria reduce the short- and long-term side effects of treatment without affecting its effectiveness.

New food supplements, in the form of probiotics in particular, are thus possible and already considered by the team to improve the intestinal health of cancer patients. In particular, in pediatric patients, microbiological changes related to chemotherapy can induce health complications later in life - including obesity, asthma and diabetes -.

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The development of a new strategy to protect the intestine is therefore particularly important for these young patients.

Draw inspiration from bioremediation: bioremediation uses living organisms to clean up or rid environments of toxic substances. Here, the principle is identical, explains the main author, Erica Hartmann, researcher at Northwestern: “Usually, bioremediation applies to alluvial aquifers but here, we apply this same technique to the intestine. We know that certain bacteria can break down toxins and we show that they can metabolize toxins related to cancer treatments and thus exert a protective effect on the microbial community.”

All research on cancer treatments today aims, beyond the objective of therapeutic efficacy, to reduce side effects, including gastrointestinal problems. Chemotherapy, in particular, can wipe out the "good" bacteria in the human gut. Chemotherapy drugs cannot tell the difference between cancer cells and germs, but some germs help maintain good health.

Being able to reverse this disturbance of the intestinal microbiome will not only prevent these effects and their complications later in life, but also improve compliance with chemotherapy. Here, for example, the bacterium Raoultella planticola, naturally present in the human intestine but in low abundance, can break down doxorubicin and protect the entire microbiome.