Immune Advisors Publishes Peer-Reviewed Study Demonstrating Efficacy of a Probiotic and Digestive Enzymes Supplement in Protecting Against Side Effects of Cancer Chemotherapy

SAN DIEGO, July 23, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Immune Advisors, LLC, a California-based company focused on forming, financing, and growing companies in the immunotherapy and regenerative medicine space, announced today publication of a manuscript entitled "Protection from chemotherapy- and antibiotic-mediated dysbiosis of the gut microbiota by a probiotic with digestive enzymes supplement."  The paper was published in the peer-reviewed cancer focused journal, Oncotarget.

This article was authored by Thomas Ichim, PhD of Immune Advisors, LLC in collaboration with Dr. Santosh Kesari, MD PhD of the Pacific Neuroscience Institute and the John Wayne Cancer Institute, and Kim Shafer of Daily Body Restore^®, LLC, the developer of the supplement evaluated in the study.

The published results demonstrate that a commercially available supplement, Daily Body Restore (DBR)^®, which combines nine strains of probiotics and ten digestive enzymes, provides benefits in improving the adverse effects of a chemotherapeutic agent, 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), and an antibiotic, vancomycin, on the gut microbiome. Using an in vitro model comprising bioreactors that simulate conditions in the various compartments of the intestinal tract, DBR^® was added at in vivo doses and the composition and activity of gut bacteria was evaluated. The data showed that the supplement improved microbial fermentation and increased the numbers and diversity of the healthy bacteria present in the bioreactors. DBR^® prevented specific adverse changes in the microbiome while improving the rate of recovery of other microbes following the toxic effects of 5-FU and vancomycin.

The article can be accessed at:
https://doi.org/10.18632/oncotarget.25778

It is known that chemotherapy drugs that are routinely administered to cancer patients can negatively impact the microbiome, which, in turn, is believed to diminish the efficacy of immunotherapy based cancer treatments and causes adverse events such as gastrointestinal side effects^1,2.

Thomas E. Ichim, PhD, first author of the publication, co-founder and managing partner of Immune Advisors, LLC commented, "In recent years, there has been a growing awareness in the medical and scientific communities that the composition of bacteria in the gut is intricately involved in shaping the immune system and drug responsiveness. The data recently published today, in my opinion, strongly support the viability of administering Daily Body Restore® to patients who are being treated with chemotherapy."

1 Routy et al. Gut microbiome influences efficacy of PD-1-based immunotherapy against epithelial tumors. Science. 2018 Jan 5;359(6371):91-97. http://science.sciencemag.org/content/359/6371/91.long

2 Alexander et al. Gut microbiota modulation of chemotherapy efficacy and toxicity. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2017 Jun 14(6):356-365. https://www.nature.com/articles/nrgastro.2017.20

SOURCE Immune Advisors