Cardioprotective effect of green tea extract on doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity in rats

The in vivo antioxidant properties of green tea extract (GTE) were investigated against doxorubicin (DOX) induced cardiotoxicity in rats. In this experiment, 48 Wistar albino rats (200-250 g) were divided into eight groups (n = 6). Control group received normal saline for 30 days. Cardiotoxicity was induced by DOX (20 mg/kg ip.), once on 29th day of study and were treated with GTE (100, 200 and 400 mg/kg, p.o.) for 30 days. Aspartate aminotransferase (AST), creatinine kinase (CK), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), lipid peroxidation (LPO), cytochrome P450 (CYP), blood glutathione, tissue glutathione, enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants were evaluated along with histopathological studies. DOX treated rats showed a significant increased levels of AST, CK, LDH, LPO and CYP, which were restored by oral administration of GTE at doses 100, 200 and 400 mg/kg for 30 days. Moreover, GTE administration significantly increased the activities of glutathione peroxidase (GPX), glutathione reductase (GR), glutathione s-transferase (GST), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT), in heart, which were reduced by DOX treatment. In this study, we have found that oral administration of GTE prevented DOX-induced cardiotoxicity by accelerating heart antioxidant defense mechanisms and down regulating the LPO levels to the normal levels.