Background and Objective. Cisplatin-based chemotherapy is widely recognized to cause severe gastrointestinal disorders like nausea, vomiting, and appetite loss. The aim of this study was to assess whether cisplatin-based transcatheter arterial infusion (TAI) chemotherapy reduces plasma ghrelin levels and food intake in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients. Methods. Seventeen patients with HCC who underwent cisplatin-based TAI chemotherapy (80–100？mg/body) were enrolled in this study. Changes in peptide hormones, including ghrelin and leptin, as well as cytokines, were measured before and after chemotherapy. Appetite was evaluated by visual analog scale (VAS) and food intake was scored by eleven stages (0–10). Results. Appetite and food intake were significantly decreased after chemotherapy ( ). Plasma acylated ghrelin levels before therapy and at day 1, day 7, and day 14 after chemotherapy were 10.4 ± 7.2, 4.7 ± 4.7, 11.7 ± 8.9, and 9.3 ± 6.6？fmol/mL, respectively. The level on day 1 was decreased significantly ( ). In contrast, the levels of leptin, granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF), and monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1) on day 1 were increased significantly ( ). Conclusions. TAI for HCC reduced plasma acylated ghrelin levels, appetite, and food intake significantly. In addition, it increased serum leptin levels. 1. Introduction Cisplatin-based chemotherapy is widely recognized to cause severe gastrointestinal disorders like nausea, vomiting, and appetite loss. The acute phase of cisplatin-induced gastrointestinal disorders involves increased serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT)) secretion from enterochromaffin cells [1]. Consequently, the 5-HT3-receptor antagonist was developed and is widely used for patients who undergo chemotherapy. However, many patients still suffer from gastrointestinal disorders. Ghrelin is a 28-amino acid peptide found in the stomach. It is an endogenous ligand for growth-hormone secretagogue receptors [2]. Ghrelin is known to have an intense appetite-enhancing effect in addition to the growth-hormone-secretion-promoting effect [3]. Ghrelin is the only hormone that exhibits an orexigenic effect following peripheral administration [4]. In addition, ghrelin exhibits a variety of actions including stimulation of growth hormone (GH) secretion, gastric motility and gastric acid secretion, and induction of positive energy balance [5, 6]. Recently, it has been reported that ghrelin can greatly alleviate the behaviors associated with chemotherapy-induced dyspepsia in rodents [7]. In rats, administration of
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