Potential Therapeutic Effect of Vitamin C on Methotrexate-Induced Damage in the Cerebral Cortex

Background and Objective: Methotrexate is an anti-metabolic medication used to treat cancer. It causes oxidative stress in nerve tissue and has neurotoxic effects. A strong antioxidant and effective free radical scavenger is vitamin C. The current research aims to investigate the potential protective impact of vitamin C and the toxic consequences of methotrexate. Material and Methods: Thirty-six rats were used in this research and group one (Group 1) got no treatment at all. For 4 weeks, (Group 2) underwent a single intraperitoneal injection of methotrexate at a dose of 20 mg/kg once a week and (Group 3) got methotrexate at the same dosage as Group 2 and vitamin C (20 mg/kg) intragastrically every other day for four weeks. Rats were killed after the experiment and brain hemispheres were removed and prepared for light microscopic analysis. The cerebral hemispheres were ready for biochemical analysis to determine the brain tissue’s concentrations of MDA, CAT, GSH and SOD. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS software version 20. Results: In the methotrexate (2)-treated group, there were histological alterations manifested as a reduction in granular layer thickness. Purkinje cells exhibit a reduction in number, a shrinking of the cell bodies and a loss of monolaminar organization. Reduced cellularity was seen in the molecular layer. These cellular alterations are lessened and the thickness of the granular and molecular cell layers is restored following vitamin C treatment. When compared to the MTX+Vitamin C group, vitamin C greatly attenuates the biochemical and histological alterations caused by MTX. Conclusion: Results concluded that although methotrexate is a toxic medication that damages the brain cortex, its toxicity is reduced when vitamin C is taken with it.