Evaluation of the effect of taurine on cisplatin-induced hepatic injury and oxidative stress in male rats

Introduction: The principal dose-limiting factor in the use of cisplatin as an antineoplastic drug is its hepatic toxicity. This study was designed to investigate the protective role of taurine against cisplatin-induced hepatic injury. Methods: Male albino rats (180-220 g) were divided in to 4 groups (n=8) as follows: (1) saline-treated group (2): cisplatin-treated group (10 mg/kg ip) (3): group that received taurine (200 mg/kg ip) for 1hr before cisplatin (10 mg/kg ip) administration (4): taurine treated group (200 mg/kg ip). After 7 days, the animals were sacrificed and blood samples collected from the heart as well as liver tissues were kept at -70 °C till further analyses. Results: analyses showed that cisplatin significantly increased ALT and AST serum levels (P<0.05) while pretreatment with taurine resulted in the reduction of these markers. Catalase activity in cisplatin-treated rats was significantly decreased (P<0.05) and taurine administration could recover this reduction. MDA content of the liver tissue was significantly increased in cisplatin-exposed animals, while taurine treatment reduced the amount of MDA in liver tissue. Conclusion: Our data suggest that taurine prevents from cisplatin-induced hepatic injury and this effect may be due to its antioxidant properties.