The effects of lycopene on intestinal injury due to methotrexate in rats

Figures & data

Table 1 Experimental study protocol

Groups	1*	2*	3*	4*	5*	6*	7*	8*	9*	10*	11*
Control	a,b	b	b	b	b	b	b	b	b	b	e
Lyc	b,c	b,c	b,c	b,c	b,c	b,c	b,c	b,c	b,c	b,c	e
Mtx	d										e
Mtx-L	b,c,d	b,c	b,c	b,c	b,c	b,c	b,c	b,c	b,c	b,c	e

*Days, a:0.9% NaCl(i.p.), b:Corn Oil (o.g.), c:Lycopene (10 mg/kg)(o.g.), d:Mtx (20 mg/kg) (i.p.), e:Euthanized.

Figure 1 Sections of the small intestine were stained with hematoxylin–eosin, scale bar = 200 μm. (I) Normal histological appearance of the small intestine tissues in the control rats. (II) Histopathological effects of high dose methotrexate on the small intestine structure. (a) Degeneration of surface and crypt epithelium. (b) Degeneration of villus structure. (c) Inflammatory cell infiltration. (III) Section indicating that lycopene treatment in the Mtx-L group is providing significant histological improvement.

Table 2 Histopathologic examination results in rat small intestine tissues

Histopatalogic parameters	Groups
	Control^a	Lyc^a	Mtx^a	Mtx-L^a
Degeneration of surface and crypt epithelium	0.00 (0.0–1.0)	0.00 (0.0–1.0)	1.00 (1.0–2.0)^b	0.50 (0.0–1.0)^c
Degeneration of villus structure	0.00 (0.0–1.0)	0.00 (0.0–1.0)	1.00 (1.0–2.0)^b	1.00 (0.0–1.0)^c
İnflammatory cell infiltration	0.00 (0.0–0.0)	0.00 (0.0–0.0)	1.00 (1.0–2.0)^b	0.00 (0.0–1.0)^c

^aData were expressed as median (min–max).

^bSignificance of Mtx compared with control.

^cSignificance of Mtx-L compared with Mtx.

P < 0.01 is significant.

Table 3 Biochemical assessment results in rat small intestine tissues

	Groups
	Control^a (n = 7)	Lyc^a (n = 7)	Mtx^a (n = 7)	Mtx-L^a (n = 7)
TNF-α (pg/g protein)	1030 ± 176	1091 ± 100	1253 ± 114^b	1123 ± 120
IL-1 β (pg/g protein)	11.91 ± 3.09	11.92 ± 3.15	14.18 ± 2.73	10.64 ± 2.78^c
TAC (mmol Trolox Eq/g protein)	0.43 ± 0.06	0.46 ± 0.07	0.45 ± 0.08	0.46 ± 0.07
TOS (μmol H2O2 Eq/g protein)	6.93 ± 058	7.57 ± 2.25	8.84 ± 1.54^b	7.20 ± 1.33^c
OSI (arbitrary units)	1.63 ± 0.24	1.66 ± 0.59	2.18 ± 0.82	1.62 ± 0.65^c

TNF-α, tumor necrosis factor-alpha; IL-1β, interlekuin-1 beta; TAC, total antioxidant capacity; TOS, total oxidative status; OSI, oxidative stress index.

^aData were expressed as mean ± standard deviation.

^bSignificance Mtx compared with control

^cSignificance Mtx-L compared with Mtx.

P < 0.01.