Farnesol Protects Against Intratracheally Instilled Cigarette Smoke Extract-Induced Histological Alterations and Oxidative Stress in Prostate of Wistar Rats

BACKGROUND: In the present study, cigarette smoke contains more than four thousand chemicals, many of which are known to be carcinogen or cancer promoter. Many epidemiological reports suggest that cigarette smokers are at a greater risk of other cancers such as oropharynx, stomach, pancreas, liver, kidney, urinary bladder, colon, and breast, however, the few epidemiological reports are available on the role of cigarette smoke in the development of prostate cancer. In this study, we investigated the effects of farnesol against cigarette smoke extract (CSE)-induced oxidative stress in prostate. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Farnesol was administered by gavage (50 mg/kg and 100 mg/kg b.wt. in corn oil) one time daily for 7 days. On day 7, rats were exposed to cigarette smoke via intratracheal instillation of aqueous CSE. CSE enhanced prostatic xanthine oxidase activity and lipid peroxidation (LPO) along with decrease in prostatic glutathione content, antioxidant enzymes activities, viz., glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase, and catalase. RESULTS: Pre-treatment of rats with farnesol (50 mg/kg and 100 mg/kg b.wt. orally) resulted in significant decreased in xanthine oxidase activity and LPO at both the doses. The level of reduced glutathione, the activities of glutathione dependent enzymes and antioxidant enzymes were also augmented to significant level with pre-treatment with farnesol. CONCLUSION: Thus, our data suggests that farnesol is a potent defense against CSE induced prostatic oxidative damage in rodent model of experiment.