Protective Potential of Ginseng and/or Coenzyme Q10 on Doxorubicin-induced Testicular and Hepatic Toxicity in Rats

Abstract

Introduction: Although doxorubicin (DOX) is a successful cancer chemotherapeutic, side effects limit the clinical utility of DOX-based therapy, including male infertility and hepatotoxicity.
 Objective: To evaluate the testicular and hepatoprotective effect of ginseng and/or coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) in rats exposed to DOX and the possible underlying mechanisms.
 Materials and Methods: Fifty adult male albino rats were divided into (10/group), control, DOX group, DOX/Gin group, DOX/CoQ10 group and DOX/Gin+CoQ10 group. Serum testosterone, serum liver enzymes, fasting serum cholesterol and triglyceride (TG), tissue malondialdehyde (MDA), tissue superoxide dismutase (SOD), serum tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), serum interleukin 6, serum interleukin 10, nuclear factor E2‐related factor 2 (Nrf2) gene expression in liver and testis and organ indices were measured. Histopathological and immunohistochemical assessments of apoptotic marker kaspase3 in testis and liver were also performed.
 Results DOX-induced toxicity is associated with a significant decrease in serum testosterone, testis and liver index values, testicular and hepatic SOD, testicular and hepatic Nrf2 gene expression and serum interleukin 10. However, there was a significant increase in serum liver enzymes, serum cholesterol and TG, testicular and hepatic MDA, serum TNF-α and serum interleukin 6 when compared with the control group. The combination of ginseng and CoQ10 resulted in significant improvement of DOX-induced changes when compared with other treated groups.
 Conclusion: Ginseng and CoQ10 have valuable therapeutic effects on DOX-induced testicular and hepatic toxicity via up-regulation of Nrf2 gene expression, inhibition of apoptosis, anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory and hypolipidemic effects.

Protective effects of selenium nanoparticles against doxorubicin-induced testicular apoptosis in rats

“…Nrf2 is also one of the main modulators of apoptosis, causing a reduction in apoptosis by activating the expression of Bcl-2, down regulating Bax and reducing caspases-3 activity (Niture and Jaiswal, 2012; Niture and Jaiswal, 2013; Renu and Valsala-Gopalakrishnan, 2019). In this study, Dox significantly down regulated the mRNA expression of Nrf2 and HO-1, in agreement with the studies conducted by Ujah et al, (2021) andKhodir et al, (2021), which reported that Dox-induced apoptosis in the testis is associated with decreased expression of Narf2/OH-1. In contrast, co treatment with SeNPs and Dox significantly up regulated the testicular Nrf2/HO-1 pathway.…”

Antioxidant and Anti-Inflammatory Activities of Coenzyme-Q10 and Piperine against Cyclophosphamide-Induced Cytotoxicity in HuH-7 Cells

“…For instance, Q10 has been used to suppress cisplatin-mediated oxidative stress which induces inflammation, necrosis, and apoptosis in renal tissue via its antioxidant activities [15]. Similarly, Q10 has been used to alleviate toxicity of anthracycline, tamoxifen, and doxorubicin [16][17][18]. Here, we explored P and Q10 as protective agents against inflammation and oxidative stress induced by CP.…”