Context: Cisplatin, as a first-line treatment for ovarian cancer, is associated with debilitating adverse effects, including nephrotoxic and haematotoxic effects.
Objective: This study determines whether nanocurcumin, combined with cisplatin, would give additional benefit to kidney function and haematological parameters in rats with ovarian cancer.
Materials and methods: Twenty-five Wistar rats were divided into five untreated rats and 20-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene (DMBA)-induced ovarian cancer rats. The 20 ovarian cancer rats were divided into four treatment groups: vehicle, cisplatin, cisplatin-curcumin, and cisplatin-nanocurcumin. Cisplatin was given at the dose of 4 mg/kg BW once weekly, while curcumin or nanocurcumin was administered at 100 mg/kg BW daily for four weeks. At the end of treatment, we analysed kidney function, haematological parameters, and inflammatory and oxidative stress markers from plasma.
Results: Nanocurcumin alleviates the increase in kidney function markers and abnormalities in haematological indices in rats treated with cisplatin. Compared to cisplatin-treated rats, plasma urea levels decreased from 66.4 to 47.7 mg/dL, creatinine levels lowered from 0.87 to 0.82 mg/dL, and neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) levels declined from 8.51 to 3.59 mIU/mg protein. Furthermore, the therapy increased glutathione activities (from 2.02 to 3.23 U/µL), reduced lipid peroxidation (from 0.54 to 0.45 nmol/mL), and decreased plasma TNF-α (from 270.6 to 217.8 pg/mL).
Conclusions: Cisplatin with nanocurcumin in an ovarian cancer rat model may provide additional benefits as a preventive agent against renal impairment and cisplatin-induced haematological toxicity. However, further research is required to prove that using nanocurcumin for a more extended time would not affect its anticancer properties.
Keywords: Haematotoxicity; inflammation; nephrotoxicity; oxidative stress; platinum; turmeric.