Amelioration of doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity by oral lyophilized Dunaliella salina supplement in a female wistar rat model with active estrous cycle and surgical menopause

Background: Whole-cell Dunaliella salina is effective in preventing doxorubicin (DOX)-induced cardiotoxicity in female Wistar rats with surgical menopause. Materials and Methods: In our experiment, we surgically induced menopause in a group of Wistar rats and given doses of DOX and/or D. salina lyophilized powder and compared its effects with the group of rats having a normal estrous cycle. A cumulative dose of 25 mg/kg BW of DOX was given to induce cardiotoxicity and was countered by 1000 mg/kg BW of D. salina oral supplement or 10 mg/kg BW of tamoxifen. Totally two groups of rats were supplemented with D. salina , in one of the groups it was given either a week before DOX initiation, and in the other group, it was given alongside DOX doses. Results: The concomitant D. salina supplement has been found to reduce the cardiac damage due to DOX better than the groups that received the supplement beforehand DOX initiation or tamoxifen. Besides, the supplement was also found to maintain nitroso-redox balance, thus preventing cardiomyocyte death as compared with the rats that received DOX alone. It was evident from the histopathological examination and serum levels of cardiac troponin-T. Conclusion: Thus, oral carotenoid supplementation can be a promising functional food over tamoxifen, which would help in recovering from menopause and prevent anthracycline cardiotoxicity.