Background: Theophylline has been shown to cause heart anomaly in animal and human fetus.
Objectives: The present study aimed to investigate the protective effect of quercetin on theophylline-induced heart disorders in rat embryo.
Materials and methods: Theophylline-induced teratogenicity in rats was used as the animal model. Pregnant rats were administered theophylline (259 mg/kg, po) or theophylline plus quercetin (259 mg/kg, po and 100 mg/kg, ip, respectively) on 9th and 10th days of pregnancy. On day 19, cardiac changes were assessed, measuring malondialdehyde (MDA) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activity levels in blood samples and also the fetus heart weight. Histopathological examination was also performed on all specimens.
Results: Theophylline-treated rats showed MDA level elevation and GPx activity reduction. Quercetin treatment improved heart conditions and resulted in a significant reduction in MDA levels and elevation in GPx activity. Moreover, co-administration of quercetin and theophylline increased the heart weight significantly. Furthermore, histophatological study showed no changes in the treated groups.
Conclusions: This study demonstrated that quercetin have beneficial effects on theophylline-induced-anomalies in rat embryo.
Keywords: Glutathione peroxidase; Malondialdehyde; Quercetin; Theophylline.