Effect and Mechanism of Herbal Medicines on Cisplatin-Induced Anorexia.

Daeun Min,Seong-Gyu Ko,Bonglee Kim,Woojin Kim

doi:10.3390/ph15020208

Abstract

Cisplatin is a well-known chemotherapeutic agent used to treat various types of cancers; however, it can also induce anorexia, which results in reduced food intake, loss of body weight, and lower quality of life. Although drugs such as megestrol acetate and cyproheptadine are used to decrease this severe feeding disorder, they can also induce side effects, such as diarrhea and somnolence, which limit their widespread use. Various types of herbal medicines have long been used to prevent and treat numerous gastrointestinal tract diseases; however, to date, no study has been conducted to analyze and summarize their effects on cisplatin-induced anorexia. In this paper, we analyze 12 animal studies that used either a single herbal medicine extract or mixtures thereof to decrease cisplatin-induced anorexia. Among the herbal medicines, Ginseng Radix was the most used, as it was included in seven studies, whereas both Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma and Angelicae Gigantis Radix were used in four studies. As for the mechanisms of action, the roles of serotonin and its receptors, cytokines, white blood cells, ghrelin, and leptin were investigated. Based on these results, we suggest that herbal medicines could be considered a useful treatment method for cisplatin-induced anorexia.

Highlights

Cisplatin ( known as cisplatinum or cis-diamminedichloroplatinum (II)), is a firstgeneration platinum-based chemotherapeutic agent widely used to treat solid cancers, such as testicular, lung, ovarian, and breast cancer, since its approval by the Food and DrugAdministration (FDA) in 1978 [1,2,3]
The included studies focused on various pathways as the pathogenesis mechanism of cisplatin-induced anorexia, as well as the curative action of herbal medicines (Tables 1 and 2)
The role of 5-HT and its receptors in cisplatin-induced anorexia was investigated in four studies [45,46,47,48]; inflammatory cytokines [43,44,47,49] and White Blood Cells (WBCs) [44,47,49,50] were studied in four studies each; the roles of ghrelin and leptin in cisplatin-induced anorexia were assessed in five [43,44,45,46,48] and two [43,44] studies, respectively

Summary

Introduction

Cisplatin ( known as cisplatinum or cis-diamminedichloroplatinum (II)), is a firstgeneration platinum-based chemotherapeutic agent widely used to treat solid cancers, such as testicular, lung, ovarian, and breast cancer, since its approval by the Food and DrugAdministration (FDA) in 1978 [1,2,3]. Anorexia is a loss of appetite, including the occurrence of early satiety, which results in reduced food intake, loss of body weight, and lower quality of life [17] When these symptoms become chronic, a loss of fat and muscle occurs, which often leads to cachexia [18,19,20]. Megestrol acetate (MGA) [21,22,23,24] and cyproheptadine [25,26] are used as first-line treatments to attenuate anorexia They have been reported to enhance appetite and increase the body weight of patients with chemotherapy-induced anorexia [27,28,29]

Methods

Results

Conclusion