Protective efficacy of ethanolic extract of Capparis decidua fruit against methotrexate induced hepatotoxicity using oxidative stress markers and gene expression in Wistar rats

Abstract

Chemotherapeutic drugs are employed to remove cancer cells. But most of the chemotherapeutic drugs nonspecifically harm both normal and cancer cells. These Chemotherapeutic drugs inducing toxicity to the normal tissues have severe impact on disease conditions and treatment outcome. It has been suggested that the natural compounds with antioxidant properties not only lower the toxicity induced by chemotherapeutic drugs but also may improve the efficacy of chemotherapeutic drugs. The usage of these commonly employed anticancer drugs like methotrexate severe side effects leads to severe side effects, and this often limits its use (Pieniazek et al, 2013). One such severe side effect of methotrexate is hepatotoxicity. Drug induced damage to the liver is one of the frequent causes of liver dysfunction. Several studies have reported that diets rich in fruits and vegetables, rich sources of antioxidants promote health and are less susceptible to diseases and the natural antioxidants are shown to have abundant potential to reduce the severe side effects and they also help in enhancing anticancer effect of antitumour drugs (Zhang et al, 2009).The aim of the study was to evaluate the protective role of ethanolic fruit extract of C. decidua on methotrexate induced hepatotoxicity in Wistar rats and to compare with the standard drug silymarin newlineC. decidua 500mg/kg showed better protection than C. decidua 250 mg/kg. C. decidua 500 mg/kg produced similar protective effect as that of silymarin in methotrexate induced hepatotoxicity. GCMS analysis of the C. decidua extract has reported the presence of and#946;-Sitosterol with hepatoprotective effect against CCl4 induced hepatotoxicity, which may be responsible for the hepatoprotective effect of C. decidua too. newline