The in vivo ameliorative effect of silymarin on cisplatin-associated ovarian and testicular histopathological and biochemical alterations

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the protective effect of silymarin against in vivo cisplatin-induced ovarian, testicular and epididymal histopathological alterations in female and male albino rats, respectively. Design:Randomized controlled study. Animals:Eighty adult male and female albino rats (160 ± 20 g in body weight and 4-6 weeks in age). Procedures:animals were randomly allocated to four treatments groups. Animals were treated with either mock treatment, cisplatin, silymarin or cisplatin and silymarin simultaneously for 20 successive days. Blood and tissue samples (ovary, testis and epididymis) were collected. Animal sera were tested for sex hormones and ovary, testis and epididymis were examined histopathologically. Results: Our study demonstrated the ability of silymarin to ameliorate the cisplatin-associated tissue damage in all studied organs. Silymarin treatment also had a minor effect on resorting the serum level of estrogen in cisplatin-treated female rats. Conclusion and clinical relevance: Silymarin may be an alternative nutritional supplement to counteract the side effects of cisplatin during anti-cancer chemotherapy.