Hepatoprotective Effects Exerted by Propolis against Doxorubicin-induced Rat Liver Toxicity: A Biochemical and Histopathological Study

Doxorubicin (DOX) is a currently used broad spectrum anticancer agent used to treat many cancer types. DOX belongs to anthracycline group of cytotoxic drugs. Unfortunately, DOX induces many side effects e.g. cardiotoxicity, hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity. In this experimental study, we assessed the protective potential of honey bee propolis against DOX-induced side effects. Thirty Sprague Dawley male rats (weighing about 200-220 g) were included in our study and divided into three equal experimental groups: group I (untreated control), group II (DOX-treated rats) that received 25 mg/kg DOX by intraperitoneal (i.p) injection for three consecutive days and group III where animals received both DOX and propolis oral propolis (250 mg/kg for 30 consecutive days). By the end of experimental time, all animals were sacrificed on the 30th day where blood samples and tissue sections were collected for detection of the biochemical and histopathological changes. Our data revealed that propolis evidently resulted in hepatoprotective effects against DOX-induced toxicity in rats liver. It can be concluded that propolis provides partial protection against DOX-induced hepatotoxicity.