PAKISTAN
VETERINARY
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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

 
 
   
 

ISSN 0253-8318 (Print)
ISSN 2074-7764 (Online)



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