The potential role of pumpkin seeds oil on methotrexate-induced lung toxicity

Many chemotherapeutic drugs cause adverse pulmonary reactions leading to severe pulmonary disease. Though methotrexate (MTX) is used for the treatment of cancer and other diseases, it is highly toxic with multiple adverse effects including pulmonary toxicity. Essential oils represent an open frontier for pharmaceutical sciences due to their wide range of pharmacological properties. Pumpkin seeds oil (PSO) was used to investigate its ability to alleviate methotrexate-induced lung toxicity in rats. Lung tissue from MTX-treated group revealed a decrease in malondialdehyde, glutathione, and nitric oxide accompanied by a marked inhibition in cholinesterase activity, and enhanced catalase activity, tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-6 and vascular endothelial growth factor levels. Analysis of PSO revealed that the oil was rich in hexadecanoic acid, decane methyl esters, squalene, polydecane, docosane, and other derivatives. Administration of PSO ameliorated the oxidant/antioxidant and proinflammatory changes induced by MTX in the lung tissue. Histological examinations confirmed the potency of PSO in reducing the histopathological alterations induced by MTX. Immunohistochemical analysis showed decreased nuclear factor-kappa B and caspase 3 expression after PSO. The present data indicated the protective efficiency of PSO against MTX-induced lung injury by decreasing oxidative damage, inflammation and apoptosis and could thus be recommended as an adjuvant therapy.