Chemo protective activity of carotenoid meso-zeaxanthin against doxorubicin-induced cardio toxicity.

Carotenoid meso-zeaxanthin (MZ) was evaluated for its protective effect against doxorubicin (DOX) induced cardio toxicity in Wistar rats. Oral administration of MZ was started 15 days prior to doxorubicin (30mg/kg b.wt, i.p, single dose) injection. Animals in all groups were sacrificed 24 hours after doxorubicin administration. Serum markers of cardiac injury-LDH, CPK, SGOT and SGPT levels, which were increased drastically by doxorubicin treatment, were decreased to normal level by MZ pre-treatment. MZ significantly mitigated DOX-provoked reductions of cardiac activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx), as well as depletion of glutathione (GSH).Pretreatment of MZ significantly guarded against DOX-induced rise of oxidative stress markers like lipid peroxidation (LPO), tissue hydroperoxides (HP) and conjugated dienes (CD) in cardiac tissue. Moreover, DOX-induced myocardial injury, which was manifested by arrhythmias and conduction abnormalities in ECG (increased ST, QT interval and ST elevation), was reversed significantly by MZ pre-treatment. Histopathological analysis further confirmed cardio-protective potential of this carotenoid.