Protective Effects of Pachyrhizus erosus Tuber Extract on Oxidative Stress Markers in Doxorubicin-Induced Wistar Rats

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Doxorubicin is an effective anthracycline chemotherapeutic agent, however its clinical use is limited by oxidative stress–mediated toxicity. This study evaluated the protective effect of Pachyrhizus erosus tuber extract on oxidative stress markers in doxorubicin-induced Wistar rats. A controlled laboratory experiment with a post-test-only control group design was conducted using 30 female Wistar rats randomly assigned to five groups: negative control, doxorubicin control, and three extract-treated groups receiving Pachyrhizus erosus at doses of 1.25, 2.5, and 5 g/kg body weight. Doxorubicin was administered intraperitoneally at 5 mg/kg body weight on days 1, 5, 9, and 13, whereas the extract was given orally once daily for 14 days. On day 15, serum malondialdehyde and superoxide dismutase were measured using commercial assay kits. Serum malondialdehyde levels were significantly higher in the doxorubicin control group than in the negative control group (18.75 ± 1.60 vs. 5.12 ± 0.45 ng/mL; p < 0.001), then decreased to 12.98 ± 1.35, 8.52 ± 0.90, and 6.10 ± 0.72 ng/mL in the low-, medium-, and high-dose groups, respectively (all p < 0.001 vs. doxorubicin control). In contrast, superoxide dismutase activity was significantly lower in the doxorubicin control group than in the negative control group (35.1 ± 4.1 vs. 72.5 ± 5.8 U/mg protein; p < 0.001) and increased to 48.9 ± 5.2, 59.7 ± 4.5, and 68.3 ± 6.1 U/mg protein after extract treatment (all p < 0.001). In conclusion, Pachyrhizus erosus tuber extract attenuated doxorubicin-induced oxidative stress with a graded dose-related pattern.