Potential protective effects of rice seedling extracts of a malaysian rice variety, biris, against doxorubicin-induced cytotoxicity

Abstract

Doxorubicin (DOX) is one of the most effective chemotherapeutic drugs for treating a wide range of neoplasms such as leukaemia, lymphoma and breast cancer; however, it is often related to cardiomyopathy. Currently, there is no established treatment for reducing the impact of cardiomyopathy without noticeable side effects. Thus, this study set out to investigate potential protective effects of rice seedlings extracts (RSE) against DOX-induced cytotoxicity using in vitro cell culture studies. The antioxidant capabilities of RSE were evaluated, and the results showed lower amounts of total phenolic content (TPC), but similar total flavonoid content (TFC) and trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC), compared to wheatgrass seedlings extracts. A series of absorbance and fluorescence spectroscopy experiments indicated that RSE could hinder the formation of DOX-DNA complexes at the tested concentrations. Further, the viability of a rat cardiomyocyte cell line, H9c2(2-1), was tested after 24, 48 and 72 h of DOX treatments in the presence of RSE, using a tetrazolium salt (MTS reagent) based cell proliferation assay. The results indicated significant protective effects of RSE against DOX-induced cytotoxicity. The nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell line, HK1, was used as a control to determine whether the efficacy of DOX is affected by the co-administration of RSE. The results indicated no negative effects on the efficacy of the drug. These multiple beneficial properties of RSE indicate its strong potential for development of a cardioprotective agent to compliment the DOX treatment in clinical settings.