Neuroprotective effects of selenium against cisplatin-induced oxidative damage in the rat hippocampus

Purpose: This study aimed to comprehensively evaluate the cognitive and behavioral effects together with the role of oxidative stress in the hippocampus in order to evaluate the role of selenium as a potential neuroprotective agent against cisplatin-induced central nervous system neurotoxicity. Materials and methods: Thirty-eight male rats were divided into control, cisplatin, selenium, and cisplatin+selenium groups. A single dose of cisplatin (7.5 mg/kg) was administered intraperitoneally to the rats. Selenium (1 mg/kg) was administered orally once daily by gavage for 21 days. Novel location and object recognition tests were used to test short-term memory (STM) and long-term memory (LTM). The forced swim test was used to measure depression level. Total antioxidant status (TAS), superoxide dismutase (SOD), total oxidant status (TOS), and malondialdehyde (MDA) were measured in hippocampus tissue using the ELISA method. Results: Cisplatin treatment caused weight loss in rats p=0.001. TOS p=0.02 and MDA p=0.05 levels increased, and TAS p=0.03 and SOD p=0.01 levels decreased in the cisplatin group compared to the control group. No statistically significant change was observed in these oxidative damage parameters in the cisplatin+selenium group compared to the control group. STM and LTM were impaired in the cisplatin group p=0.05. However, some improvement was observed in the LTM impairment in the Cisplatin+selenium group. While depression levels increased in the cisplatin group compared to the control group, they were significantly reduced in the Cisplatin+selenium group p=0.001. Conclusion: The findings suggest that selenium supplementation may play a potential therapeutic role in alleviating cisplatin-induced neurotoxic effects in the central nervous system in rats.