ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the effects of mirtazapine in combination with gemcitabine on food intake,body weight and tumor growth of human pancreatic carcinoma xenografts in nude mice.Methods 24 subcutaneous pancreatic cancer xenograft nude mice were randomly divided into control group,gemcitabine group(receiving 100 mg/kg gemcitabine i.P.on days 1,4,7 and 10 after operation)and combination group (gemcitabine as above and mirtazapine,10 mg·kg~(-1)·d~(-1),orally feeding for 21 days),with 8 mice in each group. All mice were sacrificed at day 21.Food intake,body weight and tumor size were compared among three groups.Results Gemcitabine group showed significant anti-tumor effects,but adverse effects such as decreasing food intake and body weight Was also noted. On days 21,there Was no significant difference in tumor size between combination group and gemcitabine group.The tumor inhibition rates of the two groups were 69.13%and 71.60%respectively(P>0.05).The food intake of mice and body weight[(3.12±0.11)g and(14.68±0.42)g]in combination group were slightly greater than these of gemcitabine group[(2.96±0.14)g and(14.38±0.61)g,P>0.05],but these parameters were significantly lowerthan those of control group[(4.65±0.13)g and(17.46±0.52)g,P<0.05].Conclusions Gemcitabine chemotherapy showed significant anti-tumor effects. Mirtazapine cannot significantly enhance the anti.tumor effect of gemcitabine. However,mirtazapine could alleviate adverse events of gemcitabine to some extent.