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One of the most common toxicities of cancer treatment is diarrhoea. Probiotics have been shown effective at preventing diarrhoea in inflammatory bowel disease and may prove useful in the oncology setting. The primary aim of this study was to investigate the probiotic mixture, VSL#3, for amelioration of chemotherapy-induced diarrhoea (CID). This experiment was carried out in a clinically relevant model of CID. VSL#3 was administered to female DA rats in one of three schedules. Irinotecan was used to induce mucositis and diarrhoea, with rats monitored for 7 days to record incidence of weight-loss and diarrhoea. At study completion, intestines were collected to investigate histological and proliferative changes, apoptosis levels and mucin composition. VSL#3 reduced weight loss following irinotecan when administered before and after chemotherapy. Moderate and severe …