title: Effects of fermented Cordyceps sinensis on oxidative stress in doxorubicin treated rats.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Cordyceps sinensis (CS) is one of the rare traditional Chinese herbs, only a very limited amount of natural CS is produced. Fermented CS, as a substitute for natural CS, is widely used in the field of supplementary medical treatment and health products. Its antagonistic effect on oxidative stress (OS) in vivo has not been investigated.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Our aim was to investigate the antagonistic effect of fermented CS on OS in doxorubicin (DOX) treated rats and to compare the anti-OS effects in heart and liver tissues.
  
  
  METHODS
  OS rats were induced by tail-intravenous injection of DOX (total of 7.5 mg/kg), and then administered intragastrically with fermented CS (1.5 g/kg) for 4 weeks. At the end of the experiment, heart, liver and serum samples were taken for and biochemical analyses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Fermented CS significantly increased the activities of glutathione peroxidase and catalase and the scavenging activity of O2 (-) in serum, and the total superoxide dismutase activity in cardiac tissue; reduced the malondialdehyde content in liver and cardiac tissues.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Fermented CS can inhibit DOX-induced OS reactions, and the anti-OS effects have high selectivity to heart and liver, especially to heart. Thus, fermented CS may be a candidate used for the prevention against various cardiac diseases induced by OS.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, NO. 1200 Cailun Road, Shanghai 201203, China.
authors.forename: Rong
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, NO. 1200 Cailun Road, Shanghai 201203, China.
authors.forename: Jian-Ping
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, NO. 1200 Cailun Road, Shanghai 201203, China.
authors.forename: Hui-Lin
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, NO. 1200 Cailun Road, Shanghai 201203, China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, NO. 1200 Cailun Road, Shanghai 201203, China.
authors.forename: Qian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, NO. 1200 Cailun Road, Shanghai 201203, China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Hua
authors.initials: XH
authors.lastname: Cui
keywords: Antioxidant enzyme system; doxorubicin; fermented Cordyceps sinensis; oxidative stress; supplementary medical treatment