Ozone-Oxidative Preconditioning Prevents Doxorubicin-induced Cardiotoxicity in Sprague-Dawley Rats

OBJECTIVES: Induced dilated cardiomyopathy is the main limitation of the anti-cancer drug doxorubicin, which causes oxidative stress and cardiomyocyte death. As ozone therapy can activate the antioxidant systems, this study aimed to investigate the therapeutic efficacy of ozone-oxidative preconditioning against doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity. METHODS: The study was carried out from September 2013 to January 2014. Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly distributed in the following treatment groups: Group 1 were treated with 2 mg/kg intraperitoneal (i.p.) of doxorubicin twice a week for 50 days; Group 2 were treated with 0.3 mg of ozone/oxygen mixture at 50 μg/mL of ozone per 6 mL of oxygen by rectal insufflation and then treated with doxorubicin; Group 3 were treated as Group 2 but only with the oxygen, and Group 4 were treated with oxygen first, and then with sodium chloride i.p. as the control group. RESULTS: The results showed that ozone therapy preserved left ventricle morphology which was accompanied by a reduction of serum pro-brain natriuretic peptide levels. The cardioprotective effects of ozone-oxidative preconditioning were associated with a significant increase (P <0.05) of antioxidant enzymes activities and a reduction of lipid and protein oxidation (P <0.05). CONCLUSION: Ozone-oxidative preconditioning prevents doxorubicin-induced dilated cardiomyopathy through an increase of antioxidant enzymes and a reduction of oxidised macromolecules. This establishes the background for future studies to determine if ozone therapy can be used as a complementary treatment for attenuating doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity in cancer patients.