The Evaluation of the Ameliorative Effect of Montelukast Against Arsenic Trioxide-Induced Cardiotoxicity in Rats

Arsenic trioxide (As2O3) is used for treating patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL). The extensive application of this drug has been limited due to its severe cardiotoxicity. Montelukast is a selective leukotriene receptor antagonist with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.
This study evaluated whether montelukast could protect against As2O3-induced cardiotoxicity in vivo.
Thirty-two male Wistar rats (150 to 200 g) were divided to 4 treatment groups: control (0.2 mL of saline, ip), As2O3 (5 mg/kg, ip), As2O3 plus MONT, and MONT (20 mg/kg, po). All drugs were administered daily for 10 days and pretreatment with MONT was performed 1 hour prior to As2O3 administration. Cardiotoxicity was estimated by electrocardiological, biochemical, and histopathological evaluations.
The results indicated that the combination treatment of montelukast and As2O3 markedly (P In conclusion, the current results demonstrated that montelukast possesses beneficial cardio-protective properties against As2O3 toxicity. It was also proposed that these protective effects were mediated by antioxidant modifications of montelukast.