Biochemical evaluation of grape seed and Aloe vera extracts in mitigating methotrexate-induced hepatoimmunotoxicity

Abstract Methotrexate (MTX) is one of the chemical medications used to cure a variation of illnesses. Patients exposed to MTX have a inclusive variety of adversative effects, from minor to severe, on their immune system, liver, kidneys, lungs, and testicles. The current work investigated the oral administration of grape seed (GSE) and Aloe vera (ALG) extracts against MTX drug which is used as a fighting cytotoxic chemotherapeutic agent. Rats (60) were divided equally into control, MTX, ALG, GSE, MTX + ALG, and MTX + GSE groups. After 3 weeks of treatments, several hematological and biochemical evaluations were performed on serum and liver, as well as testis, besides the immunity enzyme activities. Oral GSE administration with MTX drug enhanced some hematological parameters as (WBC 2.48 cells/μL), (MCH 21.18 pg), (MCHC 31.27 g/dL), (LYM 74.87 %), and (PCV 41.85 %). MTX + GSE group detected lower values in (ALT 40.9 IU/L), (AST 120.12 IU/L), (LDH 408.67 IU/L), (bilirubin 1.17 mg/dL), (cholesterol 80.76 mg/dL), and (albumin 3.46 g/L) compared to the MTX + ALG group. GSE and ALG in MTX + GSE and MTX + ALG groups lowered the MDA formation in liver tissues to 2.23 nmol/mg and 2.45 nmol/mg, respectively. MTX + GSE group preserved Follicle Stimulating Hormone levels (FSH) (16.02 mL U/mL) and testosterone (1.87 ng/mL) levels. GSE and ALG in MTX + GSE and MTX + ALG groups lowered the immunity enzyme activities Nrf2, NF-κB, and HO −1 to reach (0.25 ng/mL and 0.22 ng/mL), (0.59 % and 0.81 %), and (378.55 pg/mL and 201.11 pg/mL), respectively. The results showed that several medicinal plants are hepatoprotective, which means they can alleviate the negative effects of those chemical medications and eliminate their harmful effects.