Proanthocyanidins produce significant attenuation of doxorubicin-induced mutagenicity via suppression of oxidative stress.

This study has been initiated to determine whether proanthocyanidins can protect against doxorubicin-induced mutagenicity in mice and to elucidate the potential mechanism of this protection. Pretreatment of mice with proanthocyanidins (100 mg/kg/day, orally) for 7 days and simultaneously with doxorubicin (12 mg/kg, i.p.) for another day, significantly reduced the frequency of bone marrow DNA strand breaks and micronucleated polychromatic erythrocytes compared to doxorubicin-treated mice alone. Furthermore, proanthocyanidins caused a reduction in bone marrow suppression induced by doxorubicin treatment. In male germline, orally administration of proanthocyanidins (100 mg/kg/day, orally) for 7 consecutive days before and 7 consecutive days after treatment with doxorubicin (12 mg/kg, i.p.), significantly elevated the levels of sperm count and motility reduced by doxorubicin treatment. Furthermore, proanthocyanidins significantly decreased the elevated levels of spermatogonial and spermatocyte chromosomal aberrations and sperm head abnormality induced by doxorubicin. Prior administration of proanthocyanidins ahead of doxorubicin reduced the doxorubicin induced testicular lipid peroxidation and prevented the reduction in testicular non-protein sulfhydryl significantly. Conclusively, this study provides for the first time that proanthocyanidins have a protective role in the abatement of doxorubicin-induced mutagenesis and cell proliferation changes in germinal cells of mice that reside, at least in part, in their radical scavenger activity. Therefore, proanthocyanidins can be a promising chemopreventive agent to avert secondary malignancy and abnormal reproductive outcomes risks in cancer patients receiving doxorubicin-involved treatment.