Effects of quercetin against gentamicin-induced ovarian injury in rats

This study aimed to determine the effects of gentamicin (GEN), an agent with oxidative stress-increasing effects, and quercetin (QCT), which has strong antioxidant properties, on the ovary and to investigate the capacity of QCT to prevent or treat this damage in case the GEN causes damage to the ovary. In the study, 6 groups were formed by using 36 Sprague Dawley rats. The duration of the experiment was planned as 7 days. The first group was determined as the control group (K). GEN, GEN+QCT1, GEN+QCT2 groups were administered 100 mg/kg GEN intraperitoneally (i.p.) for 7 days. 20 mg/kg of QCT was administered to the GEN+QCT1 group, and 50mg/kg of QCT was administered to the GEN+QCT2 group by gavage. QCT1 group was administered 20mg/kg QCT and QCT2 group 50mg/kg QCT was administered by gavage. In the histopathological evaluation of the ovary, follicular cell degeneration (FHD), vascular congestion (VC), germinal epithelial degeneration (GED), inflammatory cell (IH) and fibrosis (F) were found to be significantly increased in the GEN group. This damage was found to be reduced in the GEN+QCT treatment groups. The histopathologies of VK, GED and IH in the QCT2 group showed a significant increase compared to the control group. As a result of biochemical analyzes, a significant increase in plasma MDA and tissue MDA, and a significant decrease in SOD, CAT, GPx values were detected in the GEN group. Although the GEN+QCT treatment groups partially reduced tissue MDA, it did not achieve a statistically significant decrease. Although there was an increase in SOD and GPx values in the GEN+QCT groups compared to the GEN group, it was not significant. CAT showed a significant increase in the GEN+QCT groups compared to the GEN group. Looking at the results of the biochemical analysis, it was seen that GEN increased the oxidative stress in the ovarian tissue and QCT could alleviate this damage in a dose-dependent manner. Histopathological evaluation results showed us that the GEN damaged the ovarian tissue morphology. Although QCT seems to provide protection against GEN in some parameters, it has been observed that it can have a prooxidant effect when administered alone, especially at high doses. We think that our study contributes to the literature by documenting the damage of GEN to the ovarian tissue and the reducing effect of QCT with histopathological findings and biochemical analyzes.