Objective: Doxorubicin (DX) is an antibiotic of the anthracycline group with chemotherapeutic effects, which is widely used in cancer treatment. However, its clinical use is limited due to liver toxicity. The main causes of DX hepatotoxicity are generally considered to be oxidative stress and apoptosis. In this study, it was aimed to investigate the antiapoptotic effect of Resveratrol (RSV), a powerful antioxidant, at different doses on DX-induced hepatotoxicity.

Materials and Methods: 42 Sprague-Dawley male rats were randomly divided into six groups (n=7). While the control group (n=7) was not administered, the DX group (n=7) was administered DX intraperitoneally (i.p) at a dose of 15 mg/kg once at the beginning of the experiment. DX+RSV I (n=7) and DX+RSV II (n=7) groups were administered DX ip at a dose of 15 mg/kg once at the beginning of the experiment followed by 1 and 5 mg/kg/day RSV ip, respectively. RSV I (n=7) and RSV II (n=7) groups were administered 1 and 5 mg/kg/day RSV i.p, respectively. The experiment was terminated on the 15^th day.

Results: It was observed that DX administration caused biochemical and histopathological changes in the liver. It was observed that these changes were reduced/mitigated with RSV (5 mg/kg/day) treatment. It was determined that DX administration in liver tissue increased Bax and Casp3 immunoreactivity while decreasing BcL2 immunoreactivity.

Conclusion: RSV treatment was observed to regulate DX-induced altered apoptotic protein immunoreactivities. RSV, a dietary polyphenol, treatment may exert an antiapoptotic effect in DX-induced hepatotoxicity by regulating the Bax/BcL2 ratio.