Cisplatin (CP) is one of the most widely used and most effective cytotoxic drugs in the treatment of different epithelial tumors but it has several side effects. Oxidative stress has been proven to be involved in CP-induced toxicity and Glutathione (GSH) depletion is an important mechanism of CP toxicity.
This experiment was carried out to study the possible protective effect of Copper (I)-nicotinate complex (CNC), the strong antioxidant as it has superoxide dismutase-mimetic activity against the side effects of CP on experimental rat models. For this purpose, forty male albino rats were divided into four groups: Control-ve group, CNC group, CP group and CP&CNC group. At the end of experiment, the whole rats were sacrificed and serum samples for kidney function and kidney tissue samples for light and transmission electron microscopies.
The results showed that, Cisplatin induced adverse effects on blood picture, kidney function and renal tissue in CP group, but CP & CNC group showed a marked decrease of these changes observed in CP group.
In conclusion, CNC seems to have a protective role against CP induced toxicities.