Vitamin C protects against cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity and damage without reducing its effectiveness in C57BL/6 mice xenografted with Lewis lung carcinoma.

Vitamin C (vit C) has been shown to diminish cisplatin (CP)-induced nephrotoxicity and oxidative damage in healthy rats and mice. However, little is known whether vit C has similar actions and enhances the anticancer effect of CP in tumor-bearing mice. Herein, C57BL/6 mice were implanted (s.c.) with Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC) for 9 days before intraperitoneal administration with CP (5 mg/kg) in the presence or absence of low- (200 mg/kg) and high- (1000 mg/kg) dose vit C twice a week for an additional 28 days. Results reveal that vit C or CP treatment alone significantly inhibited tumor growth, although vit C in combination with CP did not further inhibit tumor growth, as compared to CP treatment alone. In addition, CP significantly induced nephrotoxicity and oxidative damage, as evidenced by increased plasma levels of blood urea nitrogen and creatinine as well as levels of lipid peroxidation and carbonyls, decreased ratios of GSH/GSSG in liver and kidney. Vit C significantly reversed these undesirable side effects induced by CP, and most of these actions of vit C were dose-dependent. Overall, we conclude that vit C can protect against CP-induced nephrotoxicity and damage without reducing CP's effectiveness in LLC-bearing mice.