Investigation of the effects of blueberries (Vaccinium myrtillus) against methotrexate induced ovary damage in rats

In this study, 21 female adult rats were used. Rats were randomly divided into 3 groups as 7 rats in each group. The first group is the control group and no procedure was applied. The second group was the MTX group and a single dose of 30 mg/kg MTX was administered intraperitoneally (ip.). The third group was MTX+YME group; a single ip. dose of 30 mg/kg MTX and 200 mg/kg YME were administered by oral gavage for 5 days. At the end of the experiment, rats were sacrificed and their ovaries were extracted. Secti-ons obtained from the right ovarian tissues, after being stained with Hematoxylin & Eosin (H&E) and Masson Trichrome, were evaluated histologically and primordial follicles, pri-mary follicles, secondary follicles, tertiary follicles and atretic follicles were counted. In addition, left ovarian tissues were extracted for biochemical examinations, and malondial-dehyde (MDA), catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), total antioxidant capacity (TAS) and total oxidative capacity (TOS), oxidative stress index (OSI), 8-oxodeoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) and caspase-3 levels were analyzed. In the biochemical analyses, the level of MDA in the MTX group was higher both in comparison to the control group and MTX +YME group. Notable regions with focal necro-sis, vasodilatation/congestion, edema, degenerated oocytes and increased in collagen and fibrous tissue were observed in the tissues extracted from MTX group. A decrease in the aforementioned pathological findings of MTX+YME group has been observed, in compari-son to the MTX group. The number of atretic follicles was statistically higher both in the MTX and MTX+YME groups, relative to the control group. As a result, MTX might lead to histopathological damages by causing oxidative stress in the ovarian tissue and the administration of YME might be effective in reducing the oxidative stress and tissue damage caused by MTX.