Antioxidant effects of variciguat in heart and lung tissue of mice with breast cancer

Breast cancer is a malignancy in women that leads to various complications by inducing systemic oxidative stress. Vericiguat has demonstrated cardioprotective properties; however, its effects on oxidative stress within the cardiopulmonary system in the context of breast cancer remain unclear. This study aimed to investigate the effects of vericiguat on oxidative stress parameters in mice with breast cancer.
Twenty-four healthy adult female mice were randomly assigned to four groups: sham, tumor, vehicle, and tumor + vericiguat. Subsequently, the animals were dissected, and heart and lung tissues were harvested to measure malondialdehyde (MDA) levels and total antioxidant capacity (TAC).
The results showed that tumor induction was associated with a significant increase in oxidative stress in heart and lung tissues; specifically, MDA levels in the tumor group increased compared to the sham group in both the heart (p<0.01) and lung (p<0.05), while TAC levels decreased significantly in both tissues (p<0.001). Treatment with vericiguat resulted in a significant reduction of MDA in heart tissue compared to the vehicle and tumor groups (p<0.001), and in lung tissue compared to the vehicle (p<0.01) and tumor (p<0.001) groups. Furthermore, vericiguat significantly increased TAC levels in the heart compared to the vehicle and tumor groups (p<0.01) and in the lung compared to both the tumor and vehicle groups (p<0.001).
Treatment with variciguat seems to improve the oxidative stress changes caused by breast cancer in the cardiopulmonary system of mice, although further studies are needed to confirm these findings.