Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 Amino Acids https://doi.org/10.1007/s00726-019-02801-7 ORIGINAL ARTICLE Protective efect of taurine against doxorubicin‑induced cardiotoxicity in rats: echocardiographical and histological fndings Veysel Özgür Barış 1,2  · Esra Gedikli 2  · Nilgün Yersal 3  · Sevda Müftüoğlu 3  · Ayşen Erdem 2 Received: 18 April 2019 / Accepted: 24 October 2019 © Springer-Verlag GmbH Austria, part of Springer Nature 2019 Abstract Doxorubicin (DOXO) may cause serious cardiotoxic efects that limit its use as an antineoplastic agent. We aimed to evaluate the protective role of taurine (TAU), a beta amino acid with antioxidant activity, against DOXO-induced cardiotoxicity in a rat model. Thirty-one male Sprague–Dawley rats (300–400 g) were randomized into four groups: control (n = 7, intraperitoneal [ip] saline for 14 days), TAU (n = 8, 150 mg/kg body weight TAU ip for 14 days), DOXO (n = 8, 25 mg/kg body weight DOXO ip on 12th, 13th, and 14th days), and DOXO + TAU (n = 8, TAU for 14 days and DOXO on 12th, 13th, and 14th days). The left ventricular functions were evaluated on 15th day by echocardiography. The heart tissues were then excised for histological evaluation. In DOXO group, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), fractional shortening (FS), and mitral lateral annulus (s’) velocity were signifcantly lower, and the left ventricular end-diastolic and end-systolic diameters (LVEDD, LVESD) were signifcantly higher than control group (p < 0.05), indicating a signifcant deterioration in left ventricular functions. However, in comparison to DOXO group, LVESD, LVEDD, LVEF, FS, and s’ were signifcantly improved in DOXO + TAU group (p < 0.05). On histological evaluation, contrary to the normal cellular structure of cardiomyocytes in control and TAU groups, DOXO group showed increased nuclear or cytoplasmic changes and infltrative cell proliferation (p < 0.001), which were remarkably reduced in DOXO + TAU group (p < 0.001). TAU treatment has a protective efect against DOXO-induced cardiotoxicity on echocardiographical and histological evaluation. For common use of TAU to prevent DOXO-induced cardiotoxicity, our fndings should be confrmed by clinical studies. Keywords Doxorubicin · Cardiotoxicity · Taurine · Heart failure · Malignancy Introduction Doxorubicin (DOXO) is an anthracycline antineoplastic agent which is efective against several types of malignan- cies such as leukemia, lymphoma, and breast cancer. How- ever, in addition to its strong antineoplastic action, it has some cardiotoxic efects, which limit its clinical use (Chat- terjee et al. 2010). Various agents such as metformin and phenytoin have been suggested to have protective efects against DOXO-induced cardiotoxicity (Argun et al. 2015; Razmaraii et al. 2015). However, none of these drugs have been widely used in clinical practice, and the search for new protective agents against DOXO-induced cardiotoxicity is ongoing. Taurine (TAU) or aminoethane sulfonic acid is a beta amino acid highly concentrated in heart and mus- cle. Although TAU has many physiological efects such as modulation of osmotic pressure, cation homeostasis, receptor regulation, cell development, and cell signaling, Handling Editor: H. Jakubowski. This study was partly presented as a best oral presentation in the 32nd Turkish Cardiology Congress, October 20–23 2016, Antalya, Turkey (SS-114); and in European Society of Cardiology Congress, 30 August, Rome (P5922). * Veysel Özgür Barış veyselozgurbaris@gmail.com 1 Department of Cardiology, Gülhane Research and Education Hospital, Ankara, Turkey 2 Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey 3 Department of Histology, Faculty of Medicine, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey