The effect of taxifolin on oxidative ovarian damage and reproductive dysfunctions induced by antipsychotic drugs in female rats

Aim: Typical antipsychotics (TAPs) are commonly used to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. However, extrapyramidal disorders, hyperprolactinemia, and reproductive dysfunctions have been observed in women during the use of TAPs. For this reason, less toxic and prolactin-sparing atypical antipsychotic (AAP) drugs such as clozapine (CLN) have been developed. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of taxifolin on possible ovarian and reproductive toxicity associated with CLN and haloperidol (HPL) in female Wistar albino rats. Methods: The rats were grouped as healthy control group (HCG), CLN, HPL, taxifolin + clozapine (TCL), and taxifolin + haloperidol (THL). Drugs were administered to the groups for 28 days. At the end of that time, ovarian tissues of six rats from each group were taken for histopathological and biochemical analyses. Remaining six rats in groups were examined for evaluation of reproductive dysfunctions. Results: Severe degeneration and vacuolization were observed in the primary, secondary, and primordial follicles of the ovarian tissues of CLN- and HPL-treated groups, of which malondialdehyde (MDA) level was high and total glutathione (tGSH) level was low. In the taxifolin-treated groups, taxifolin significantly prevented the increase of MDA level and decrease of tGSH level, and the severity of histopathological damage was found to be lower. In addition, it was found that taxifolin significantly prevented infertility and delay in pregnancy associated with CLN and HPL. Conclusions: The results of this experiment suggest that taxifolin can be beneficial in treating oxidative ovarian damage, infertility, and reproductive dysfunctions induced by CLN and HPL.