Protective effect of selenium against cisplatin-induced nasopharyngeal cancer in male albino rats

The present study evaluated the protective effect of selenium against cisplatin-induced nasopharyngeal cancer in the cardiac tissue of adult rats. Male Wistar rats were divided into 4 groups of 6 rats each. Different combinations of selenium and cisplatin were administered for 45 days, following which the animals were sacrificed and the nasopharyngeal tissue was surgically removed. Lipid peroxidation, reduced glutathione, and the antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) were measured. Apoptotic-related gene (p53, bax and caspase 3) mRNA expression was determined using quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Caspase 3 activity was also measured in all the groups. The results demonstrated that selenium significantly reduced the levels of malondialdehyde. The levels of glutathione, SOD, LDH and catalase significantly increased following selenium treatment. Relative mRNA expression (p53, bax and caspase 3) was significantly reduced in the cisplatin-treated rats, but it significantly increased following selenium treatment. The anticancer activity of selenium was also investigated in HK1cells. Fluorescence and confocal microscopy were used to analyze apoptosis and reactive oxygen species. The protective effect of selenium was also evident through caspase 3 activity, which significantly increased following selenium treatment. Taken together, these results indicate that selenium may be beneficial against cisplatin-induced nasopharyngeal cancer.