Ameliorative Effect of Methanol Extract of Tectona grandis Leaves on Cyclophosphamide-induced Cardiotoxicity in Wistar Rats

Abstract

Cyclophosphamide is a therapeutic agent with an extensive clinical application. It is used in treating acute and chronic leukaemia, lymphomas, multiple myeloma, rheumatoid arthritis and in preparation for bone marrow transplantation. However, cyclophosphamide has numerous organ toxicities that have limited its clinical use. The study aimed to investigate the ameliorative effect of the methanol extract of Tectona grandis leaf on cyclophosphamide-induced cardiotoxicity. Twenty female Wistar rats were randomly divided into four groups (n=5). Cardiac toxicity was induced in Wistar rats by administering cyclophosphamide 50 mg/kg BW IP daily forthree days. Tectona grandisleaf extract (200 and 400 mg/kg) was orally administered immediately after cyclophosphamide treatment on the fourth day for 21 days. The control group received only feed and water. After the 21-day treatment, the rats were euthanized under anesthesia to obtain blood for biochemical analysis. Histopathological evaluation was also conducted. Data was analyzed using the statistical package GraphPad Prism version 8.0.2. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and post hoc test were carried out. Cyclophosphamide administration significantly elevated (p<0.05) the troponin level and activities of creatine kinase and lactate dehydrogenase compared with the control. Additionally, the cyclophosphamide alone-treated group showed elevated levels of malondialdehyde, reduced activities of antioxidant enzymes- superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione peroxidase and abnormal changes in lipid profile status compared with the control and other treatment groups. Treatment with methanol T. grandis leaf extract (MTGLE) reversed the changes by significantly (p<0.05) reducing the levels of troponin and malondialdehyde, increasing the activities of creatine kinase, lactate dehydrogenase, superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione peroxidase while restoring the lipid profile of cyclophosphamideinduced rats. The result of the histopathological examination showed an improvement in the cardiac histoarchitecture of MTGLE-treated groups, which supports the findings of the biochemical investigation. This suggests that Tectona grandis may possess a promising ameliorative effect against cyclophosphamideinduced cardiotoxicity in rats.