Abstract

Doxorubicin, a highly effective anticancer drug, produces cardiotoxicity, which limits its therapeutic potential. The mechanism of this cardiotoxicity has remained elusive. The use of this drug, however, continues to be limited by its dose-related and time interval toxicity. Reactive oxygen species are hypothesized to be a major factor in the toxicity of doxorubicin. The aim of this work was to investigate the effect of doxorubicin on dose-related and time interval in rat. The study utilized adult albino rats (120 ± 5 g). They were divided into 8 groups of 7 animals each and were kept under standard laboratory conditions. They had free access to commercial pellet diet and water. The room temperature was maintained at 20 ± 5°C. The study measured rat tissue MDA, NO₂, NO₃, Se-GSH peroxidase and SOD under Dox stress, and the results indicate that MDA and NO generated in Dox treated samples cause neuro, myo, hepato and renal toxicity. Since SOD and Peroxidase are scavenging molecules, increase in their levels in Dox treated samples may be one of mechanism to overcome Dox caused oxidative stress in Dox treated albino rat.

Key words: Albino rat, Doxorubicin, MDA, NO₂, NO₃, SOD.