Protective role of concomitant administration of flax lignan concentrate and omega-3-fatty acid on myocardial damage in doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity

The severe cardiotoxicity incurred due to doxorubicin limits the use of their therapeutic potential. The current study aims to investigate the cardioprotective effect of concomitant administration of flax lignan concentrate (FLC) and omega-3-fatty acid (ω-3-FA) on myocardial damage in doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity in Wistar rats. Cardiotoxicity was induced by intraperitoneal injection of doxorubicin (4 mg/kg) on day 7th, 14th, 21st and 28th day in normal saline. Concomitant administration of FLC (500 mg/kg) and ω-3-FA (1 mL/kg) lowered TNF-α level, normalized ST, QT and mean arterial blood pressure, elevation in endogenous enzymes levels such as glutathione and lowering in malondialdehyde, super oxide dismutase followed by normalized lipid profile and reduced the mortality rate. The treatment had antiapoptotic potential at cellular level also histopathology of heart tissue (light and electron microscopical). Thus concomitant action of FLC and ω-3-FA may be antioxidant, antihyperlipidemic, anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic actions seem to the probable mechanisms in doxorubicin induced cardiotoxicity. It can be concluded that FLC and ω-3-FA both have distinct mechanism for cardioprotection and hence the additive effect was observed in the present study due to concomitant administration of FLC and ω-3-FA.