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. 2021 Jun 23;11(7):591.
doi: 10.3390/jpm11070591.

Reduction in and Preventive Effects for Oral-Cancer Risk with Antidepressant Treatment

Chia-Min Chung  1   2   3 , Tzer-Min Kuo  3 , Kun-Tu Yeh  4 , Chien-Hung Lee  5 , Ying-Chin Ko  3
Affiliations

Reduction in and Preventive Effects for Oral-Cancer Risk with Antidepressant Treatment

Chia-Min Chung et al. J Pers Med. .

Abstract

Areca nut (AN) was identified as carcinogenic to humans. Around 600 million people globally use AN in some form, yet no effective therapeutic drug is available to overcome AN addiction. This preclinical study examines the effects of antidepressants on AN use with animal models. We produced AN powder and dissolved it into drinking water, training 55 C57BL/6 mice in free self-selection to drink AN water or normal water. Then, the mice were randomly divided into four groups. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs), and tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) were given as three treatment groups and one placebo group for four weeks. In the follow-up period, the preference and amount of free selection of AN and normal water, and oral pathological change were evaluated. There was a significant decrease in preference for AN drinking during the first four weeks, and the 36th week after drug withdrawal in the MAOI and SSRI groups (all p < 0.05). The drug-reducing effect of AN water in the 1-4-week period was significant in the MAOI group (p < 0.0001) and was also significant in the 3-4-week period in the SSRI group (p = 0.03). The TCA group did not show a decrease effect. At the endpoint (60 weeks), oral mucosal fibrosis (OSF) levels and risk in the SSRI (p = 0.0081) and MAOI (p = 0.01) groups were significantly lower than those in the control group. Antidepressant drugs MAOIs and SSRIs could reduce the amount of AN use and decrease the early stage of oral fibrosis in mice, but SSRIs may need to be boosted again.

Keywords: antidepressants; areca nut; betel quid; mouse model; oral cancer; oral submucous fibrosis.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Schematic of evaluation of areca-nut use with antidepressant treatment in animal model.
Figure 2
Figure 2
(A) H&E (upper) trichrome of oral submucous fibrosis in mouse tongue tissue. Photomicrograph showing oral submucous fibrosis (blue) in mouse tongue tissue. Scale bar = 50 μm. Quantification of fibrosis levels obtained from ImageJ software. (B) Fibrosis levels treated by MAOI and SSRI compared to placebo group.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Effects of areca-nut use on oral submucous fibrosis risk after antidepressant treatment analyzed with Kaplan–Meier method in animal model.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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