Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 19, 2026
In Vivo Alkaline Comet Assay and Enzyme-modified Alkaline Comet Assay for Measuring DNA Strand Breaks and Oxidative DNA Damage in Rat Liver
Published on: May 4, 2016
Astaxanthin Mitigates 5-Fluorouracil-Induced Hepatotoxicity and Oxidative Stress in Male Rats
Yasin Öztürk1, Merve Öztürk2, Muhammet Bahaeddin Dörtbudak3
1Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Necmettin Erbakan, Ereğli 42310, Konya, Türkiye.
Background:
Hepatotoxicity, a significant complication of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) treatment, is generally triggered by oxidative stress, liver damage, and apoptosis processes that take place in cancer patients.
Methods:
In this study, the protective effect of different astaxanthin (ASX) dosages (16 and 32/mg/kg/bw) was determined in rats with 5-FU-induced liver damage.
Results:
5-FU induced a significant increase in the histopathological lesions severity and immunohistochemical (TNF-α and 8-OHdG) expression scores in the liver (p < 0.001), significantly increased serum liver parameters (AST, ALP, ALT, GGT, and TP) and malondialdehyde (p < 0.001), and, at the same time, significantly decreased antioxidant parameters (SOD, CAT, GST, GSR, Caspase-3, and GPx) (p < 0.001). Histopathological lesions and oxidative stress parameters significantly decreased in parallel while increasing the ASX dosage (p < 0.001).
Conclusions:
Based on these data, our results suggest that ASX may be considered a promising and valuable agent to mitigate hepatotoxicity and resistance mechanisms during cancer treatment.
