Antiapoptotic and antioxidant effects of GSPE in preventing cyclosporine A-induced cardiotoxicity.

OBJECTIVES

Cyclosporine A (CsA) is an immunosuppressive drug, but cardiotoxicity is one of its side effects. Free oxygen radical damage and apoptosis are considered to be responsible for CsA-induced cardiotoxicity. Grape seed proanthocyanidin extract (GSPE) displays antioxidant and antiapoptotic activities. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the effect of GSPE on CsA-induced cardiotoxicity.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Twenty-four rats were divided into four groups, with six rats in each group. CsA-induced nephropathy was induced by administration of 25 mg/kg CsA. The experiment was discontinued on day 21, and total oxidant system (TOS), total antioxidant system (TAS), oxidative stress index (OSI), and malondialdehyde (MDA) were measured in order to evaluate oxidative damage to the heart tissue. In addition to cardiac histopathology, transferase-mediated deoxyuridine triphosphate nick end labeling (TUNEL) was performed to determine apoptosis.

RESULTS

The CsA group showed a significant increase in TOS, OSI, MDA, cardiac histopathological score, and apoptotic index (AI); in the CsA + GSPE group, OSI, MDA, cardiac histopathological score, and AI decreased significantly, and TAS levels showed a significant increase.

CONCLUSION

In this study, we demonstrated for the first time in the literature that GSPE prevents CsA cardiotoxicity and that this effect can be achieved by antiapoptotic and antioxidant activities.