Antiapoptotic and antioxidant effects of β-carotene against methotrexate-induced testicular injury

ObjectiveTo investigate the effect of β-carotene against testicular injury induced by methotrexate (MTX).DesignExperimental study.SettingAnimal and histology laboratory at Inonu University.Animal(s)Twenty-eight Wistar male rats.Intervention(s)Twenty-eight rats were separated into four groups: control, β-carotene, MTX, and β-carotene + MTX. At the end of the treatment, the animals were killed, and tissue samples were examined via histologic and biochemical methods.Main Outcome Measure(s)In each group, 100 tubules were classified as intact, sloughing, atrophic, and degenerated. Caspase-3, a universal effector of apoptosis, was evaluated according to staining in place of coloring as weak, mild, and strong.Result(s)In the MTX group, 58.5 + 3.7% of tubules were sloughing, 10.8 + 2.1% of tubules were atrophic, and 2.0 + 0.6% of tubules were degenerative. In the β-carotene + MTX group, the affected tubule number was statistically significantly lower than in the MTX group. The distribution of caspase-3 in the MTX group showed a statistically significant increase, but it decreased in the β-carotene + MTX group. The enzyme activities of catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and glutathione peroxidase (GP-x) and the level of malondialdehyde (MDA) increased and decreased in parallel.Conclusion(s)Our results indicate that β-carotene may be useful in decreasing the side effects of chemotherapy, including apoptotic cell death.