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2838763 
Journal Article 
Cardioprotective effects of curcumin and nebivolol against doxorubicin-induced cardiac toxicity in rats 
Imbaby, S; Ewais, M; Essawy, S; Farag, N 
2014 
Yes 
Human & Experimental Toxicology
ISSN: 0960-3271
EISSN: 1477-0903 
33 
8 
800-813 
24648241 
WOS:000339694900003 
Doxorubicin (DOX) is used in the treatment of cancer. However, cardiotoxicity is its major dose-limiting factor. Mechanism of DOX cardiac toxicity is not completely elucidated. The aim of the current study was to explore whether the addition of subeffective dose of curcumin (100 mg/kg) to nebivolol would produce a better impact in treating DOX-induced cardiac toxicity in comparison with monotherapy.



Male rats were used and subdivided into seven groups. Cardiac toxicity was induced in 6 groups by intraperitoneal injection of DOX over 23 days; of the six groups, five groups were treated with curcumin (100 and 200 mg/kg), nebivolol (1 and 2 mg/kg), and their combination; the sixth group was the control group used for comparison.



Oral administration of curcumin and/or nebivolol attenuated DOX cardiotoxicity as manifested by increasing survival rate, improvement in body weight, heart index, and ECG parameters, increase in ventricular isoprenaline responses, and improvement in cardiac enzymes, oxidative stress, apoptosis, and histopathological picture. The addition of the current low subeffective dose of curcumin to nebivolol ameliorated DOX cardiac toxicity to a much greater extent than monotherapy showing better antioxidant and antiapoptotic effects versus the per se effect of nebivolol. Therefore, the current study encourages adding low dose of curcumin to potentiate the effect of nebivolol in the clinical management of cardiac toxicity improving the patients' quality of life if proper clinical safety data are available. 
Cardiac toxicity; curcumin; DOX; nebivolol; nitric oxide; oxidative stress