Abstract

AbstractObjective: To compare evading effects of alpha tocopherol, carvedilol, and metformin on early detection of myocardial damage caused by doxorubicin.
Methodology: This randomized in-vivo study in rabbits was performed from Oct 2021 to March 2022 at Department of Pharmacology & Therapeutics, Wah Medical College. A cohort of 30 healthy albino male adult rabbits were used. Cardiotoxicity was induced in one group by injecting doxorubicin whereas the control group was administered 0.9% saline. The pretreatment of the other three experimental groups was carried out with alpha tocopherol, carvedilol, and metformin for 11 days prior to doxorubicin injection. Blood sampling was taken on the 12th day for biomarkers and slides of heart sections were made for microscopic examination.
Results: Doxorubicin caused marked myocardial damage portrayed by elevation of serum biomarkers levels like cTnI, CK-MB and LDH, and severe necrosis of cardiac cells. Concurrent treatment with α-tocopherol, carvedilol and metformin led to reduced serum levels of these biomarkers with improved histopathological images, more obvious in carvedilol and metformin groups.
Conclusion: The use of carvedilol, metformin, and α-tocopherol can mitigate cardiac adverse effects doxorubicin. The quantitative estimation of serum cTnI may prove cost-effective by identifying extent of cardiac injury at subclinical stage.Key words: Doxorubicin, cardiac troponin I, lactate dehydrogenase, LDH, creatine kinase-MB.