Effects of anakinra on the small intestine mucositis induced by methotrexate in rats

Intestinal mucositis is an important problem in the patients receiving cancer treatment. We aimed to investigate the effect of anakinra, which is a well known anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory agent, on methotrexate-induced small intestine mucositis in rats. Forty rats were divided into 4 groups with 10 in each group. The healthy group (HG) and the methotrexate group (MTXG) were given distilled water, while the methotrexate + anakinra 50 (MTX+ANA50) and the methotrexate + anakinra 100 (MTX+ANA100) groups were intraperitoneally administered 50 and 100 mg/kg of anakinra. After one hour, the MTXG, MTX+ANA50 and MTX+ANA100 groups were given oral methotrexate at a dose of 5 mg/kg. This procedure was repeated once a day for 7 days. After the rats had been sacrificed, the small intestine tissue of rats were removed for the assesment of biochemical markers, histopathological evaluation and gene expression analyze. Statistical analyses of the data were performed using one-way ANOVA. Malondialdehyde (MDA), myeloperoxidase (MPO) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels were significantly higher, whereas total glutathione (tGSH) levels were significantly lower in MTXG (P<0.001) compared to other groups. MTX also increased IL-1β and TNF-α gene expression levels in MTXG (P<0.001). Inflammatory cell infiltration and damage to the villus were observed histopathologically in the MTXG group, whereas only mild inflammation was seen in the MTX+ANA100 group. A dose of 100 mg/kg of anakinra prevented the increase of the biochemical markers and gene expression levels better than a dose of 50 mg/kg. Intestinal mucositis caused by MTX may be preventible by co-administered anakinra.