ABSTRACT
Chemotherapy is one of the most important treatment strategies for cancer. But most of the chemotherapeutic drugs including cisplatin cause severe side effects to the host. Plant-polyphenols were employed in cancer therapies as an immunomodulant and also to protect against therapy-induced damage. In this study, the sensitizing and protective roles of a dietary polyphenol ferulic acid (FA) against chemotherapy-induced toxicity in lymphoma-induced mice were studied. The protective effects of FA on cisplatin treatment in Dalton’s lymphoma-xenografted mice were assessed by bodyweight index, platelet count, total WBC, differential count, bone marrow cellularity, hepatic enzymes in liver and kidney, and total protein content in the control and experimental mice. These parameters were significantly altered during cisplatin therapy, indicating the signs of immunotoxicity and organotoxicity. When FA was introduced with cisplatin, the values were reversed significantly, toward normalcy when compared to the tumor control and cisplatin alone-treated animals. This may be due to the stimulating and protective effect of FA over the immune system and organs like the liver and kidney. The results revealed that FA could act as an immunostimulant and chemoprotectant when introduced during chemotherapy, making the treatment better.
