title: Antitumor effects of dopaminergic blockers in mice bearing Ehrlich tumors.
abstract: We determined the effect of 13 days of treatment with 2.0 mg/kg haloperidol, 30.0 mg/kg metoclopramide or 4.0 mg/kg domperidone on the number of tumor cells of mice bearing Ehrlich ascites carcinoma. The three dopaminergic blockers significantly reduced the number of tumor cells of experimental mice. The mean +/- SEM number of tumor cells x 10(6)/ml saline lavage was 25.5 +/- 5.9 for the haloperidol group, 36.8 +/- 4.7 for the metoclopramide group, 25.3 +/- 3.5 for the domperidone group and 54.0 +/- 9.0 for the control mice (treated with 0.9% NaCl). In a second experiment, treatment with 0.5 and 2.0 mg/kg haloperidol showed that the antitumor effect of this drug was dose dependent. The possible mechanisms underlying these results (such as an increase in prolactin levels or a direct action of these drugs on lymphocytes) are discussed in light of the specific pharmacological properties of each dopaminergic blocker.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Farmacologia, Escola Paulista de Medicina, São Paulo, Brasil.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Frussa-Filho
authors.forename: C G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Soares
authors.forename: R C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Décio
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Francischetti
authors.forename: V A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Haber
authors.forename: A T
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Onimaru
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002286:Carcinoma, Ehrlich Tumor / Q000188:drug therapy*; D004294:Domperidone / Q000008:administration & dosage; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004354:Drug Screening Assays, Antitumor; D006220:Haloperidol / Q000008:administration & dosage; D008787:Metoclopramide / Q000008:administration & dosage; D051379:Mice
chemical_list: D004294:Domperidone; D006220:Haloperidol; D008787:Metoclopramide