Astaxanthin Mitigates 5-Fluorouracil-Induced Hepatotoxicity and Oxidative Stress in Male Rats.

BACKGROUND

Hepatotoxicity, a significant complication of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) treatment, is generally triggered by oxidative stress, liver damage, and apoptosis processes that take place in cancer patients.

METHODS

In this study, the protective effect of different astaxanthin (ASX) dosages (16 and 32/mg/kg/bw) was determined in rats with 5-FU-induced liver damage.

RESULTS

5-FU induced a significant increase in the histopathological lesions severity and immunohistochemical (TNF-α and 8-OHdG) expression scores in the liver ( < 0.001), significantly increased serum liver parameters (AST, ALP, ALT, GGT, and TP) and malondialdehyde ( < 0.001), and, at the same time, significantly decreased antioxidant parameters (SOD, CAT, GST, GSR, Caspase-3, and GPx) ( < 0.001). Histopathological lesions and oxidative stress parameters significantly decreased in parallel while increasing the ASX dosage ( < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Based on these data, our results suggest that ASX may be considered a promising and valuable agent to mitigate hepatotoxicity and resistance mechanisms during cancer treatment.