Case Reports in Oncology (Oct 2014)

Efficacy of Enteral Supplementation Enriched with Glutamine, Fiber, and Oligosaccharide on Mucosal Injury following Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation

  • Satoshi Iyama,
  • Tsutomu Sato,
  • Hiroomi Tatsumi,
  • Akari Hashimoto,
  • Ayumi Tatekoshi,
  • Yusuke Kamihara,
  • Hiroto Horiguchi,
  • Soushi Ibata,
  • Kaoru Ono,
  • Kazuyuki Murase,
  • Kohichi Takada,
  • Yasushi Sato,
  • Tsuyoshi Hayashi,
  • Koji Miyanishi,
  • Emi Akizuki,
  • Takayuki Nobuoka,
  • Toru Mizugichi,
  • Rishu Takimoto,
  • Masayoshi Kobune,
  • Koichi Hirata,
  • Junji Kato

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1159/000368714
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 7, no. 3
pp. 692 – 699

Abstract

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The combination of glutamine, fiber and oligosaccharides (GFO) is thought to be beneficial for alleviating gastrointestinal mucosal damage caused by chemotherapy. A commercial enteral supplementation product (GFO) enriched with these 3 components is available in Japan. We performed a retrospective study to test whether oral GFO decreased the severity of mucosal injury following hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Of 44 HSCT patients, 22 received GFO and 22 did not. Severity of diarrhea/mucositis, overall survival, weight loss, febrile illness/documented infection, intravenous hyperalimentation days/hospital days, engraftment, acute and chronic GVHD, and cumulative incidence of relapse were studied. Sex, age, performance status, diagnosis, disease status, and treatment variables were similar in both groups. There were fewer days of diarrhea grade 3-4 in patients receiving GFO than in those who did not (0.86 vs. 3.27 days); the same was true for days of mucositis grade 3-4 (3.86 vs. 6.00 days). Survival at day 100 was 100% in the GFO group, but only 77.3% for the patients not receiving GFO (p = 0.0091, log-rank test). Weight loss and the number of days of intravenous hyperalimentation were better in the GFO group (p Enterococcus species developed in the GFO group (p = 0.0728) than in the non-GFO group. Other outcomes were not affected. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first comparative clinical study of GFO supplementation to alleviate mucosal injury after allo-HSCT. We conclude that glutamine, fiber and oligosaccharide supplementation is an effective supportive therapy to decrease the severity of mucosal damage in HSCT.

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