D'Amico Federica, Decembrino Nunzia, Muratore Edoardo, Turroni Silvia, Muggeo Paola, Mura Rosamaria, Perruccio Katia, Vitale Virginia, Zecca Marco, Prete Arcangelo, Venturelli Francesco, Leardini Davide, Brigidi Patrizia, Masetti Riccardo, Cesaro Simone, Zama Daniele
Microbiomics Unit, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences (DIMEC), University of Bologna, 40138 Bologna, Italy.
Neonatal Intensive Care Unit-AOU Policlinico "Rodolico-San Marco", University of Catania, 95131 Catania, Italy.
Pharmaceutics. 2022 Aug 16;14(8):1705. doi: 10.3390/pharmaceutics14081705.
Induction chemotherapy is the first-line treatment for pediatric patients with hematologic malignancies. However, several complications may arise, mainly infections and febrile neutropenia, with a strong impact on patient morbidity and mortality. Such complications have been shown to be closely related to alterations of the gut microbiome (GM), making the design of strategies to foster its eubiosis of utmost clinical importance. Here, we evaluated the impact of oral supplementation of lactoferrin (LF), a glycoprotein endowed with anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory and antimicrobial activities, on GM dynamics in pediatric oncohematologic patients during induction chemotherapy. Specifically, we conducted a double blind, placebo-controlled trial in which GM was profiled through 16S rRNA gene sequencing before and after two weeks of oral supplementation with LF or placebo. LF was safely administered with no adverse effects and promoted GM homeostasis by favoring the maintenance of diversity and preventing the bloom of pathobionts (e.g., ). LF could, therefore, be a promising adjunct to current therapeutic strategies in these fragile individuals to reduce the risk of GM-related complications.
诱导化疗是小儿血液系统恶性肿瘤患者的一线治疗方法。然而，可能会出现多种并发症，主要是感染和发热性中性粒细胞减少，对患者的发病率和死亡率有很大影响。这些并发症已被证明与肠道微生物群（GM）的改变密切相关，因此设计促进其微生态平衡的策略具有极其重要的临床意义。在此，我们评估了口服补充乳铁蛋白（LF）对小儿肿瘤血液学患者诱导化疗期间GM动态的影响，乳铁蛋白是一种具有抗炎、免疫调节和抗菌活性的糖蛋白。具体而言，我们进行了一项双盲、安慰剂对照试验，在口服LF或安慰剂两周前后，通过16S rRNA基因测序对GM进行分析。LF给药安全，无不良反应，并通过促进多样性的维持和防止致病共生菌（如）的大量繁殖来促进GM的稳态。因此，LF可能是这些脆弱个体当前治疗策略的一种有前景的辅助手段，以降低与GM相关并发症的风险。
