Doxorubicin, L-arginine, or their combination as a prophylactic agent against hepatic carcinoma in mice

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the ten most commonly diagnosed cancers. Doxorubicin is an antibiotic used in cancer treatment protocols that has several side effects. L-Arginine is a non-essential amino acid that is used as immune system activation and antitumor drugs. Therefore, the current study was designed to compare using doxorubicin, L-arginine, or their combination as a prophylactic agent against hepatic carcinoma induced by hepatocellular carcinoma cells (HepG2) injection in mice. The mice were divided into five groups: normal mice and mice that received HepG2, doxorubicin and HepG2, L-arginine and HepG2, and doxorubicin, L-Arginine, and HepG2, respectively. Liver function test as, aspartate transaminase (AST) and alanine transaminase (ALT), and alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), caspase 3, interleukin 6 (IL-6), tumor necrotic factor (TNF), lipid peroxidation (NDA), and some antioxidant parameters were determined. A significant increase in AST and ALT, α-fetoprotein, TNF-α, and cytokines IL6 and MDA and a significant decrease in the serum caspase and liver catalase were determined in HepG2-injected mice. Moreover, some large hyperchromatic heptocytes were observed and the percentage of the positive area/field of HepPar-1, the most specific HCC marker, was 9.56%. Interestingly, mice that received doxorubicin, L-arginine, or their combination showed an improvement in some of the previous parameters. The improvement was more prominent with L-arginine administration.