The Therapeutic Effect of p-Coumaric Acid on Lung Toxicity Induced by Methotrexate in Rats
Abstract
The use of methotrexate (MTX), a chemotherapy agent, is limited by a number of side effects, including pulmonary toxicity. Oxidative stress (OS) and inflammation are possible mechanisms of MTX-associated pulmonary toxicity. p-Coumaric acid (PCA) is a phenolic acid that has been demonstrated to exert a number of beneficial effects on human health, particularly in relation to antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity. The potential effects of PCA in reducing MTX-induced pulmonary toxicity were investigated in the current study. After MTX (20 mg/kg) was administered to the rats on day 1, two different doses of PCA (2 and 4 mg/kg) were administered intraperitoneally for 3 days and the levels of OS, inflammation and apoptosis were assessed in the lung tissues collected on day 5. PCA applications largely eliminated MTX-induced OS, inflammation and apoptosis in lung tissue via enhancing the capacity of endogenous antioxidant system. The therapeutic effect of PCA against MTX-induced pulmonary toxicity should be re-evaluated in more systematic studies.
Keywords
Apoptosis, Inflammation, Methotrexate, Oxidative stress, p-Coumaric acid, Pulmonary toxicity
Ethical Statement
This study was approved by the Local Animal Research Ethics Committee of Karadeniz Technical University (Protocol no: 2023/06) and performed according to the animal research reporting of in vivo experiments (ARRIVE) guidelines.
Thanks
The authors wish to thank Sait Al and Ibrahim Aydin from Surgical Practice and Research Center of Karadeniz Technical University for professional assistance with the experimental studies.
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