Investigating the Protective Role of L-carnitine and Thymoquinone against MethotrexateInduced Testicular Damage in Rats
Unknown authors
Abstract
The research aimed to investigate whether the combination of L-carnitine (LC) and thymoquinone (TQ) could lower the adverse effects of methotrexate (MTX), a widely used chemotherapy agent in cancer therapy, on testicular function.A total of seven groups were established (n=7); control group, LC (200 mg/kg PO), TQ (50 mg/kg PO), MTX (single IP dose of 20 mg/kg), LC+MTX, TQ+MTX, and LC+TQ+MTX.The use of MTX resulted in lower levels of testosterone, folliclestimulating hormone (FSH), and luteinizing hormone (LH) in the blood, accompanied by a significant rise in testicular MDA levels.Additionally, there was a notable decline in GSH, CAT, and SOD, indicating reduced antioxidant activity in the testicles.Furthermore, the histopathological examination of the testicles revealed disruptions caused by MTX, and the expression of caspase-3 in the testicles was documented.The combination of LC and TQ with MTX significantly increased testosterone, FSH, LD levels and restored oxidative damage markers (p<0.05) and improved histopathological scores and caspase-3 expression.In conclusion, our results demonstrate that LC and TQ exhibit substantial protective effects against testicular toxicity induced by MTX, primarily attributed to their antioxidant properties.