Captopril ameliorates myocardial and hematological toxicities induced by adriamycin.

Adriamycin has a wide spectrum of antitumor activity with dose related cardiotoxicity as a major side effect. The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of captopril, a sulphydryl containing angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor, on the cardio- and hematotoxicity of adriamycin in normal rats. A single dose of adriamycin (15 mg/kg) caused myocardial toxicity after 24 h manifested biochemically by elevation of serum enzymes:- Aspartate transaminase (AST, EC: 2.6.1.1), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH, EC: 1.1.1.27), creatine phosphokinase (CPK, EC: 2.7.3.2) and the cardiac iso-enzymes of LDH and CPK. The hematotoxicity was characterized by severe leukopenia and anemia that appeared after 72 h of adriamycin administration. Captopril (60 mg/kg i.p.) 1 h before adriamycin injection ameliorated the biochemical toxicity induced by adriamycin. This was evidenced by a significant reduction in serum enzymes, after 24 and 48 h and a significant reduction of serum cardiac iso-enzymes after 48 h. Also restoration of the white blood cell counts as well as hemoglobin concentration occurred after 72 h of captopril administration. These results suggest that captopril may be benificial as a protective agent against cardio- and hematotoxicity induced by adriamycin.