Journal of Korean medical science
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J. Korean Med. Sci. · Oct 2014
The effect of probiotics for preventing radiation-induced morphological changes in intestinal mucosa of rats.
Radiation therapy is an important treatment modality for abdominal or pelvic cancer, but there is a common and serious complication such as radiation-induced enteritis. Probiotics is reported to have positive effects against radiation-induced enteropathy. In this study, morphological changes of bowel mucosa were analyzed in rats to presume the effect of probiotics on radiation-induced enteritis and its correlation with radiation dose. ⋯ The morphological parameters of the small intestine represented significant differences between two solution groups irradiated 10 or 15 Gy, except for villus height of jejunum in 15 Gy-subgroup (P=0.065). There was no significant morphometric difference between two groups irradiated with 20 Gy of radiation. Probiotics appear to be effective for the morphological shortening of small intestinal mucosa damaged by radiation less than or equal to 15 Gy.