Paper Details
- Hitoshi Kawazoe (Division of Pharmaceutical Care Sciences, Center for Social Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Care Sciences, Keio University Faculty of Pharmacy / Division of Pharmaceutical Care Sciences, Keio University Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences / kawazoe-ht@keio.jp)
1) Division of Pharmaceutical Care Sciences, Center for Social Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Care Sciences, Keio University Faculty of Pharmacy , 2) Division of Pharmaceutical Care Sciences, Keio University Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences
Objective: Platinum- and anthracycline-based chemotherapy regimens cause nausea and vomiting in clinical practice, resulting in the deterioration of patients’ QoL, discontinuation of chemotherapy, and reduced therapeutic outcomes. Using pica behavior as an indicator, we aimed to clarify whether anamorelin, an orally active ghrelin receptor agonist, exerts antiemetic effects against cisplatin-induced nausea and vomiting in rats. Materials and Methods: Sprague–Dawley rats were treated with cisplatin (5 mg/kg, i.p.), three-drug or four-drug antiemetics (granisetron [0.3 mg/kg, p.o.], dexamethasone [1.5 mg/kg, p.o.], fosaprepitant [12.5 mg/kg, i.p.], with or without anamorelin [30 mg/kg, p.o.]). Data on kaolin intake, normal food intake, and spontaneous motor activity (SMA) were recorded 1 d before and 5 d after cisplatin administration. Body weight (BW) was measured daily, and the percentage change in BW from baseline was calculated. Results: At the primary endpoint, kaolin intake was significantly higher in the cisplatin-only group than in the pretreatment and vehicle groups (p < 0.05). Additionally, kaolin food intake was not significantly low in cisplatin-treated mice treated with three-drug antiemetics with or without anamorelin. At the secondary endpoints, normal food intake, SMA, and percentage change in BW were significantly lower in the cisplatin-only group than in the vehicle group. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that the prophylactic administration of standard three-drug antiemetics, besides anamorelin, may not improve cisplatin-induced nausea and vomiting. Further studies using methods suitable for evaluating anamorelin levels are required.