Investigating the Protective Role of L-carnitine
and Thymoquinone against Methotrexate-Induced Testicular Damage in
Rats
Ahmed Soliman1,
Mohamed Alkafafy2,
Fatma Wahba Hassan3, Marwa Zakaria4,
Maram H Abduljabbar5,
Khalil Mohamed6
and
Mohamed Aboubakr7*
1Department
of Pharmacology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Cairo University,
12211 Giza, Egypt;
2Department
of Biotechnology, College of Science, Taif University, Taif 21944,
Saudi Arabia’
3Physiology
Department, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Cairo University, 12211
Giza, Egypt; 4Department of Pharmaceutical Production
Technology, Faculty of Applied Health Science Technology, October
Technological University, Giza, Egypt; 5Department of
Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Pharmacy, Taif University,
Taif, 21944, Saudi Arabia; 6Department of Epidemiology
and Medical Statistics, Faculty of Public Health and Health
Informatics, Umm Al-Qura University, Saudi Arabia; 7Department
of Pharmacology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Benha University,
13736 Moshtohor, Toukh, Qaliobiya, Egypt
*Corresponding author:
mohamed.aboubakr@fvtm.bu.edu.eg
Abstract
The research aimed to investigate whether the combination of L-carnitine (LC)
and thymoquinone (TQ) could lower the adverse effects of methotrexate (MTX), a
widely used chemotherapy agent in cancer therapy, on testicular function. A
total of seven groups were established (n=7); control group, LC (200 mg/kg PO),
TQ (50 mg/kg PO), MTX (single IP dose of 20 mg/kg), LC+MTX, TQ+MTX, and
LC+TQ+MTX. The use of MTX resulted in lower levels of testosterone,
follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), and luteinizing hormone (LH) in the blood,
accompanied by a significant rise in testicular MDA levels. Additionally, there
was a notable decline in GSH, CAT, and SOD, indicating reduced antioxidant
activity in the testicles.
Furthermore, the histopathological examination of the testicles revealed
disruptions caused by MTX, and the expression of caspase-3 in the testicles was
documented.
The combination of LC and TQ with MTX significantly increased testosterone, FSH,
LD levels and restored oxidative damage markers (p<0.05) and improved
histopathological scores and
caspase-3 expression.
In conclusion, our results demonstrate that LC and TQ exhibit substantial
protective effects against testicular toxicity induced by MTX, primarily
attributed to their antioxidant properties.
To Cite This Article:
Soliman A,Alkafafy M,Hassan FW, Zakaria M, Abduljabbar MH,
Mohamed K and
Aboubakr M, 2024. Investigating the protective role of L-carnitine
and thymoquinone against methotrexate-induced testicular damage in rats. Pak Vet
J, 44(2): 314-321. http://dx.doi.org/10.29261/pakvetj/2024.183