Potential synergistic antioxidant effect of thymoquinone and vitamin E on cisplatin-induced acute nephropathy in rats

Abstract

Summary: Background: Nephrotoxicity occurs as a side effect of treating solid tumor with a single dose of cisplatin as anticancer drug because of the increase in oxidative stress. In this study, the free radicals scavenging capacity of thymoquinone (TQ) and vitamin E were tested to decrease the oxidative stress resulted from cisplatin treatment in male rats. Material and methods: Sixty male rats were divided into 6 groups. The 1st group was the negative control (G1) intraperitoneally injected only once with saline and 40 rats were injected intraperitoneally with a single dose of 20 mg/kg body weight (b.w.) of cisplatin and divided into four groups. The 2nd group (G2) was cisplatin positive control group, the 3rd group (G3), the 4th group (G4), and the 5th group (G5) were treated daily with 50 mg/kg b. w. of TQ, 1000 mg/kg b. w. vitamin E and TQ (50 mg/kg b. w.) + vitamin E (1000 mg/kg b. w.) daily, respectively. The 6th group (G6) was intraperitoneally injected once with saline then treated with same doses of TQ and vitamin E. The experiment was conducted for 30 days. Results: Cisplatin treated group (G2) showed altered biochemical parameters and severe damage in kidney tissues. Catalase, glutathione peroxidase, SOD and reduced glutathione levels were decreased, whereas lipid peroxidation was increased in the kidney tissue homogenate. Kidney and liver functions were altered as compared to the control group. Treating with TQ or vitamin E and their combination in G3, G4, and G5, respectively alleviated the effect of cisplatin injection and reduced the oxidative stress. Conclusions: TQ and Vit E could be good protective supplements may be given to cancer patients that might exposed to nephropathy during their treatment with cisplatin.

Keywords

• Cisplatin
• Anticancer
• Vitamin E
• Thymoquinone
• Rats
• Nephropathy