ABSTRACT
Background: azathioprine [AZA] is the most widely used immunosuppressive drug for preventing graft rejection and autoimmune disease. However, the therapeutic treatment induces several side effects such as toxicity to bone marrow, pancreases, liver and gastrointestinal tract. One of the major functions of Vitamin A is to act as a natural antioxidant by scavenging free radicals. Considering the kind of Azathioprine-induced damage in Liver tissue, we decided to study the protective effect of Vitamin A against Azathioprine-induced toxicity
Materials and Methods: forty Male Wistar rats were divided into 4 groups [each group contains 10 rats]. Group 1 was control group and only took normal saline. Groups 2 and 3 were administrated daily use of Vitamin A for 7 days I.M. and Group 4 was administrated with normal saline instead of Vitamin A in same condition as groups 2and3. In the last day groups 3 and 4 were administrated with single dose of AZA, 15 mg/kg [IP]. After 24 hours, we took the animals blood and tissue samples and studied them for biochemical and pathological examinations
Results: this study showed that Azathioprine-induced damage on liver in group 3 is less than that in group 4 while the function of organ in group 3 is nearly the same as control group. Also vitamin A decreases Azathioprine-induced hepatotoxicity in rats
Conclusion: regarding importance of Azathioprine-induced damage, the usage rate of this drug in medicine, and the results of this study, we suggest that co-administration of Azathioprine and vitamin E decreases the toxicity of this drug
ABSTRACT
Cyclophosphamide [CP], an antineoplastic drug, is also widely used in treatment of a variety of diseases such as lymphomas, leukemia, neuroblastoma, ovarian carcinoma, breast cancer and auto-immune diseases. However, its use has toxic effects on different tissues of the body, for example, it causes involution and degeneration of ovarian follicles and toxicity in the ovaries. In contrast, growth hormone [GH] improves the function of most body tissues and research has shown that it leads to the increase in the number and size of the ovarian follicles. The purpose of this study was to study the preventive effects of growth hormone during cyclophposphamide induced toxicity on the ovarian follicles. In this study, 30 New Zealand white rabbits were divided into three groups containing 10 animals in each. Group 1 was the control group and only received placebo. Groups 2 and 3 were administrated 100 mg/kg body weight CP orally daily. Group 3 was also administered growth hormone 0/15 mg/Kg subcutaneously for 49 days [from 7 days before initiation of CP therapy to 14 days after the last administration of CP].The day after last administration of CP, all 30 rabbits were anesthetized by ether and ovariectomized and the number of different types of developing follicles, regressive follicles and degenerations in ovarian tissue was studied. Degeneration of follicles was observed in both groups 2 and 3, but the number of degenerated follicles in group two was more than that in group 3 which had received GH. The number of degenerated areas in ovarian tissue in group 2 was also higher than that in the other two groups. The difference between body weight and the weight of the ovaries in groups 1 and 3 was not significant, but there was a significant decrease in body weight and ovarian These results suggest that co-administration of GH can improve the function of ovary and preserve the ovary and follicles from CP induced toxicity