Cardioprotective effects of hesperetin against doxorubicin-induced oxidative stress and DNA damage in rat

Cardiovasc Toxicol. 2011 Sep;11(3):215-25. doi: 10.1007/s12012-011-9114-2.

Abstract

Doxorubicin is a widely used chemotherapeutic agent; however, its clinical uses are limited due to its cardiotoxicity associated with an induction of oxidative stress. This study was aimed to investigate the protective effect of hesperetin against doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity in rats. Doxorubicin was administered at the dosage of 4 mg/kg bw/week, ip for a period of 5 consecutive weeks. Hesperetin was administered at the dosages of 25, 50 and 100 mg/kg bw, po by gavage for 5 consecutive days in a week for 5 weeks. The animals were killed 1 week after the last injection of doxorubicin. Hesperetin at the doses of 50 and 100 mg/kg bw significantly reduced MDA and increased GSH levels in the doxorubicin-treated animals. Further, hesperetin significantly reduced doxorubicin-induced DNA damage as well as apoptosis at 25, 50, and 100 mg/kg bw as evident from the comet and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end-labeling assays, respectively. Thus, hesperetin ameliorated doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity by reducing oxidative stress, abnormal cellular morphology and DNA damage in rat. Moreover, nuclear factor-kappa B, p38, and caspase-3 play a role in the hesperetin-mediated protection against doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity. This study indicates the protective effect of hesperetin against doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antibiotics, Antineoplastic*
  • Antioxidants / pharmacology*
  • Apoptosis / drug effects
  • Caspase 3 / metabolism
  • Comet Assay
  • Cytoprotection
  • DNA Damage*
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Dose-Response Relationship, Drug
  • Doxorubicin*
  • Glutathione / metabolism
  • Heart Diseases / genetics
  • Heart Diseases / metabolism
  • Heart Diseases / pathology
  • Heart Diseases / prevention & control*
  • Hesperidin / pharmacology*
  • In Situ Nick-End Labeling
  • Male
  • Malondialdehyde / metabolism
  • Myocytes, Cardiac / drug effects*
  • Myocytes, Cardiac / metabolism
  • Myocytes, Cardiac / pathology
  • NF-kappa B / metabolism
  • Oxidative Stress / drug effects*
  • Rats
  • Rats, Sprague-Dawley
  • Time Factors
  • p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases / metabolism

Substances

  • Antibiotics, Antineoplastic
  • Antioxidants
  • NF-kappa B
  • Malondialdehyde
  • Doxorubicin
  • Hesperidin
  • p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases
  • Casp3 protein, rat
  • Caspase 3
  • Glutathione
  • hesperetin