Mitigation of Myelosuppression by Musa acuminata and Aminopyrimidine in Doxorubicin Treated Rats

Abstract

Doxorubicin is a widely used antineoplastic drug, but its clinical efficacy is limited by dose-dependent haematotoxicity predominantly related to oxidative stress and subsequent cellular damage. The present study examined the protective effects of Musa acuminata sap (MAS) and aminopyrimidine in doxorubicin-induced haematological toxicity in Wistar rats. Thirty-five male Wistar rats were randomly divided into five groups, with 7 rats in each group: Group A (normal control); Group B (doxorubicin alone); Group C, D, and E (doxorubicin plus MAS at 50, 100, and 200 mg/kg, respectively, and aminopyrimidine at 10 mg/kg). Treatments were orally given for 42 days and doxorubicin was administered intraperitoneally at 3 mg/kg once weekly according to the study protocol. MAS was subjected to phytochemical screening and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis. Haematological indices and splenic histology were assessed, and data were analysed by one-way analysis of variance followed by appropriate post hoc comparisons, with p < 0.05 considered statistically significant. Phytochemical screening showed the presence of flavonoids, phenols, tannins, alkaloids, saponins, terpenoids and glycosides while GC-MS analysis identified aminopyrimidine as one of the major constituents. Doxorubicin treatment resulted in significant haematological derangements such as decrease in red blood cell count, haemoglobin concentration, packed cell volume and mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration with leukopenia, neutrophilia, increased platelet counts and splenic histological damage. Co-administration of MAS and aminopyrimidine significantly reduced these changes in a dose-dependent manner, the group administered 100 mg/kg MAS plus aminopyrimidine exhibited the most significant recovery of haematological parameters and better preservation of splenic architecture. The combination therapy exhibited more protective effect than MAS alone.