Introduction: Methotrexate causes injury in the cerebellar cortex. Vitamin C is one of the most familiar antioxidant components. Astaxanthin may provide protection for the brain from reactive stress. The purpose of this study was to compare between the possible protective roles of vitamin C and Astaxanthin on cerebellar cortex.
Material and Methods: Thirty-six adult male albino rats were used in the study equally divided into a control group, methotrexate treated group, methotrexate + vitamin C group and methotrexate + astaxanthine group. By the end of the tenth day of the experiment, the cerebellar hemisphere had been obtained. The left cerebellar hemispheres were prepared for biochemical examination to evaluate the levels of MDA, CAT, GSH and SOD in cerebellar tissue. The right cerebellar hemispheres were prepared for histopathological examination by H& E and immunohistochemical examination by caspase-3 and GFAP immune-staining.
Results: Methotrexate (MTX) significantly elevates MDA level and significantly decrease the level of SOD, CAT and GSH in cerebellar tissue. MTX causes destruction of the histological structures of cerebellar cortex and induce significant elevation in caspase-3 and GFAP immunoreactivity in compared with control group. Vitamin C and astaxanthin (AXA) significantly ameliorate the biochemical and histopathological changes induced by MTX. AXA significantly decrease MDA level and significantly elevate SOD, CAT & GSH levels in compared to MTX+ vitamin C group. AXA preserve the normal histological structures of cerebellar cortex and significantly decrease caspase-3 and GFAP immuonreactivity in compared to MTX + vitamin C group.
Conclusion: Both vitamin C and astaxanthin have ameliorative roles in methotrexate induced cerebellar cortex injury. However, astaxanthin is better than vitamin C in protection against cerebellar cortex damage.