Labib Mirna Akram, Saeed Omar S, ElSharkawy Samar H, Khattab Marwa S, El-Zorba Hesham Y, Abo-El-Sooud Khaled
Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Cairo University, Giza, 12211, Egypt.
Department of Virology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Cairo University, Giza, 12211, Egypt.
Sci Rep. 2025 Aug 2;15(1):28276. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-12389-6.
5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) is the most commonly used chemotherapeutic agent for solid malignancies. Although it has crucial therapeutic effects, it ranks as the second most cardiotoxic antineoplastic agent. Berberine (BBR) is a quaternary benzylisoquinoline alkaloid with promising antioxidant properties. The current study aimed to assess the palliative effect of BBR on 5-FU-induced cardiotoxicity in rats. Fifty male Sprague Dawley rats were randomly divided into five groups: negative control, which received 2% DMSO orally (PO) for 2 weeks; cardiotoxic, which received a single intraperitoneal (IP) injection of 5-FU (150 mg/kg); groups 3 and 4, which received a single IP injection of 5-FU (150 mg/kg) followed by BBR (50 mg/kg and 100 mg/kg, respectively) PO for 2 weeks; and a BBR-only group, which received BBR (100 mg/kg) PO for 2 weeks. On the 14th day, all groups underwent ECG evaluation. Blood and heart samples were collected 24 h after the last dose for further investigations. 5-FU induced significant alterations in the ECG pattern and caused a significant increase in cardiac troponin I (cTnI), creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and malondialdehyde (MDA). Moreover, it led to decreased levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD), reduced glutathione (GSH), and total antioxidant capacity (TAC). Our data suggest that BBR could mitigate 5-FU-induced cardiotoxicity by modulating cardiac injury markers, normalizing cTnI, CK-MB, and LDH levels, reducing oxidative stress by lowering MDA levels, and increasing SOD, GSH, and TAC levels. Additionally, BBR inhibited apoptotic events by suppressing caspase-3 activation and upregulating Bcl-2 expression, reduced the inflammatory response by downregulating cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) expression levels, and decreased the risk of thrombosis by increasing endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) expression levels. In conclusion, BBR exerts ameliorative effects against 5-FU-induced cardiotoxicity in rats.
5-氟尿嘧啶(5-FU)是实体恶性肿瘤最常用的化疗药物。尽管它具有关键的治疗作用,但它是第二大具有心脏毒性的抗肿瘤药物。小檗碱(BBR)是一种具有良好抗氧化特性的季铵型苄基异喹啉生物碱。本研究旨在评估BBR对5-FU诱导的大鼠心脏毒性的缓解作用。50只雄性Sprague Dawley大鼠随机分为五组:阴性对照组,口服2%二甲基亚砜(DMSO)2周;心脏毒性组,腹腔注射一次5-FU(150 mg/kg);第3组和第4组,腹腔注射一次5-FU(150 mg/kg),随后分别口服BBR(50 mg/kg和100 mg/kg)2周;以及仅使用BBR组,口服BBR(100 mg/kg)2周。在第14天,所有组均进行心电图评估。在最后一剂后24小时采集血液和心脏样本进行进一步研究。5-FU导致心电图模式发生显著改变,并使心肌肌钙蛋白I(cTnI)、肌酸激酶同工酶MB(CK-MB)、乳酸脱氢酶(LDH)和丙二醛(MDA)显著升高。此外,它还导致超氧化物歧化酶(SOD)、还原型谷胱甘肽(GSH)和总抗氧化能力(TAC)水平降低。我们的数据表明,BBR可通过调节心脏损伤标志物、使cTnI、CK-MB和LDH水平正常化、通过降低MDA水平减轻氧化应激以及提高SOD、GSH和TAC水平来减轻5-FU诱导的心脏毒性。此外,BBR通过抑制半胱天冬酶-3激活和上调Bcl-2表达来抑制凋亡事件,通过下调环氧化酶-2(COX-2)和肿瘤坏死因子-α(TNF-α)表达水平来减轻炎症反应,并通过提高内皮型一氧化氮合酶(eNOS)表达水平来降低血栓形成风险。总之,BBR对5-FU诱导的大鼠心脏毒性具有改善作用。
Naunyn Schmiedebergs Arch Pharmacol. 2025-1-17