P-40: Silymarin Prevents and Protects from the Doxorubicin-induced Oxidative Stress in Testis and Improves Sperm Quality in Rats

Background: Doxorubicin (DOX) as an antracycline is used antineoplastic agents against tumors. Although DOX has been recognized as a potent and effectiveness anticancer compound, there are however plenty of reports indicating its toxicity against the heart, liver and testis, which hampers its clinical use. This study aimed to investigate the preventive and protective effects of Silymarin (SMN) on DOX induced damages in the testis. Materials and Methods: Wistar rats were divided into six groups (n=8), including: control (C), DOX-treated (DOX, 15 mg/kg, i.p.), DOX- and SMN -treated and SMN -treated animals (SMN, 50 mg/kg, orally). Those groups which received either compounds, were sub-grouped based on the preventive (PVT), protective (PTT) and/or therapeutic regimens (TPT) of SMN administration. The antioxidant status analyses in the testis and sperm quality measurement were conducted. Results: Pretreatment and co-treatment with SMN attenuated the DOX-induced malondialdehyde (MDA) production as a biomarker of lipid peroxidation in the testis, while the total thiol molecules depletion due to DOX administration was recovered. The sperm viability was reduced by 2- fold in DOX-treated group while the SMN-pretreatment resulted in a significant improvement (90.16 ± 4.75 % control group, 44.50 ± 7.42 % DOX-treated group and 79.16 ± 5.23 % SMN-pretreated group). Conclusion: Our data suggest that the DOX-induced oxidative stress could be prevented and/or protected by SMN. Moreover, the SMN protective and preventive effects attribute to its capacity in the reduction of DOXinduced MDA production and recovering the TTM depletion. SMN improved the DOX-induced disturbance in sperm quality.