Effect of synbiotic supplementation on matrix metalloproteinase enzymes, quality of life and dietary intake and weight changes in rectal cancer patients undergoing neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy

BACKGROUND: Probiotic/synbiotic has the important role of in altering intestinal bacteria, reducing inflammation and improvement of intestinal diseases. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to investigate the effect of synbiotic supplementation on matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) enzymes, hs-CRP, quality of life, dietary intake and weight changes in rectal cancer patients undergoing neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (CRT). METHODS: In this study, 46 rectal cancer patients were recruited. Patients were allocated to the synbiotic (n = 23) group or placebo groups (n = 23) receiving 2 synbiotic or placebo capsules for six weeks. Anthropometric measurements, quality of life, dietary intakes, and serum levels of MMP-2, MMP-9, and hs-CRP were compared before and after intervention with the use of statistical tests. RESULTS: The mean energy, carbohydrate, and protein intake of patients increased in the synbiotic group, while in the placebo group, post intervention, significant reduction was noticed in these parameters (P < 0.05). Synbiotic supplementation caused improvement in global health status, symptom scale scores and scores of functional scale. At the end of intervention, the elevation in hs-CRP, MMP-2, and MMP-9 levels in the placebo group was approximately two and four times higher than the synbiotic group respectively. CONCLUSION: According to our results, synbiotic supplementation may be helpful in cancer patients undergoing CRT. However, further studies must consider synbiotic as a new complementary treatment.