Xiao-Ban-Xia-Tang inhibits cisplatin-induced pica by down regulating obestatin in rats

Abstract Ethnopharmacological relevance Xiao-Ban-Xia-Tang (XBXT), a traditional Chinese herbal medicine, has been used in China for more than 2000 years, and proved to be effective in various cases of vomiting in the clinic. Objective To investigate the inhibitive effect of XBXT on cisplatin-induced pica behaviour and its effective mechanism on obestatin, CCK and CGRP in the pica model of rat. Materials and Methods The inhibitive effect of XBXT was investigated in the pica model of rats induced by cisplatin (3 mg kg −1 , i.p.) in 72 h observation, the expression of obestatin in the area postrema and ileum was measured by immunohistochemistry and PCR, and the levels of CCK and CGRP in blood were measured by Elisa. Results The weight of kaolin eaten in rats induced by cisplatin was significantly reduced by pretreatment with XBXT in a dose-dependent manner during the 0–24 h and 24–72 h periods ( P P P Conclusions XBXT has good activity against cisplatin-induced eating kaolin in rats possibly by inhibiting central or peripheral increase of obestatin, or the levels of CCK and CGRP in blood.