Zinc and melatonin supplementation ameliorates brain cortex tissue damage in DMBA-induced breast cancer in rats

Abstract

BACKGROUND: This study aims to investigate the effects of zinc and melatonin supplementation on lipid peroxidation in the brain cortex in DMBA-induced breast cancer in female rats. METHODS: A total of 42 recently weaned Wistar rats were divided into 5 groups as follows: Control (Group 1), DMBA Control (Group 2), DMBA+Zinc (Group 3), DMBA+Melatonin (Group 4), DMBA+Melatonin & Zinc (Group 5). At the end of the study, all animals were sacrifi ced by decapitation and Malondialdehyde (MDA) and glutathione (GSH) levels in brain cortex tissue samples were determined via spectrophotometric methods. RESULTS: The highest MDA levels were in the DMBA-treated group (Group 2) (p < 0.05). MDA levels in Group 3, Group 4, and Group 5 were signifi cantly lower than in group 2 (p < 0.05). Also, GSH levels in group 3, 4, and 5 were signifi cantly higher than in group 2 (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: There are no reports on whether DMBA-induced experimental breast cancer affects oxidative stress in brain tissue. In this respect, our study revealed that the increased brain cortex tissue damage in DMBA-induced breast cancer is alleviated by Zinc, melatonin, or combined zinc and melatonin treatment (Fig. 3, Ref. 26).