Original Article Effect of octreotide in the prevention of doxorubicin cardiotoxicity Cem Barçın 1, Hürkan Kurşaklıoğlu 2, Mükerrem Safalı 3, Atilla İyisoy 4, Sedat Köse 1, Nadir Barındık 5, Ersoy Işık 6 1 Department of Cardiology, Gülhane Military Medical Academy, Ankara, Turkey 2 Department of Cardiology, School of Medicine, Gülhane Military Medical Academy, Ankara, Turkey 3 Department of Pathology, Gulhane Military Medical Academy, Ankara, Turkey 4 Department of Aerospace Medicine, Gulhane Military Academy, Eskişehir 5 Department of Cardiology, Gulhane Military Medical Academy, Ankara, Turkey 6 Department of Cardiology School of Medicine, Gülhane Military Medical Academy, Etlik, Ankara Anatol J Cardiol 2005; 5: 18-23 This article was viewed 145 times, downloaded 128 times Key Words: Doxorubicin, cardiotoxicity, prevention, octreotide Full Text (PDF) Related Articles Send a comment Share Abstract Objective: A precise method for prevention from doxorubicin cardiotoxicity is not known. We examined whether octreotide has a protective effect against doxorubicin cardiotoxicity. Methods: New Zealand rabbits (n=44) were divided into 4 groups according to drugs given: Group A (n=12) doxorubicin and octreotide, Group B (n=12) only doxorubicin, Group C (n=10) only octreotide and Group D (n=10) only saline. Effects of the drugs were evaluated in terms of histopathological score, fractional shortening (FS) and prolongation of the QTc interval. Results: Mean pathological score for cardiotoxicity (Group A: 3.7±0.5, Group B: 3.9±0.3), prolongation of QTc (Group A: from 244.5±21.2ms to 282.9±25.9ms, p<0.0001; Group B: from 248.5±17.7ms to 298.3±13.7ms, p<0.00001) and the rate of decrease in FS (Group A: from 34.4 ± 2.0 to 28.0 ± 2.0, p<0.05; Group B: from 35.1 ± 1.9 to 24.8 ± 1.3, p<0.05) were higher in Group B when compared to Group A, but only difference in the rate of decrease in FS was statistically significant (p<0.001). None of these variables changed significantly in groups C and D. Conclusion: In this preliminary study, octreotide seems not to reduce doxorubicin cardiotoxicity. On the other hand, a consistent tendency of decreased cardiotoxicity in octreotide+doxorubicin group was observed, although only the difference in FS decrease was significant. Further investigations are needed to address the issue of the extent and the mechanisms of this effect.