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Volume 7, Issue 7 (Suppl)
J Gastrointest Dig Syst
ISSN: 2161-069X JGDS, an open access journal
Gastroenterologists 2017
December 14-15, 2017
December 14-15, 2017 Dubai, UAE
11
th
World
Gastroenterologists Summit
Chemotherapy-induced adverse effects in the gastrointestinal tract and role of cannabinoids
Raquel Abalo
Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Spain
C
hemotherapy, intended to kill cancerous cells, is also toxic to healthy cells. In the gastrointestinal tract, three main types of
adverse effects may be induced: nausea/emesis; diarrhea; constipation. Each kind of antineoplastic drug may induce one
or more of these effects. For example, cisplatin is considered highly emetogenic and induces both acute and delayed nausea
and vomit, associated to alter gastric emptying and gastric distension. 5-fluorouracil induces diarrhea, potentially fatal due
to dehydration. Finally, constipation is typically induced by drugs like vincristine, with the development of paralytic ileus.
The three drugs alter the gut wall architecture, with the development of mucositis of different degrees and evolution after
treatment finalization. Several lines of evidence, mainly in experimental animals, have shown that manipulating the endo-
cannabinoid system may be beneficial to prevent/treat the effects on gastrointestinal motility. Thus, although their effects
are not that clear in rodents, which do not vomit, cannabinoid agonists have been shown to reduce signs of nausea/emesis
in animals capable of vomiting and they are actually used in the clinic as antiemetic adjuvants. Cannabinoid agonists may be
useful, even at low, non-psychoactive doses, to reduce chemotherapy-induced diarrhea. Finally, cannabinoid antagonists were
shown to reduce paralytic ileus induced by vincristine in a rat model, suggesting that endo-cannabinoid activity is increased by
this antineoplastic drug. Thus, cannabinoid-based drugs could be used to relieve and prevent chemotherapy-induced adverse
effects in the gastrointestinal tract and could then contribute to better preserve quality of life of cancerous patients during
treatment.
raquel.abalo@urjc.esJ Gastrointest Dig Syst 2017, 7:7 (Suppl)
DOI: 10.4172/2161-069X-C1-062