Abstract: 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) is an effective chemotherapeutic medication. It is
commonly implicated in treatment of various malignancies; this research aimed to
investigate potential therapeutic effect of the BMMSCs and Astaxanthin on 5-FU toxic
effect on albino rat's stomach. 40 rats were divided into 4 groups: Group I (control
group): received no treatment Group II (5-fluorouracil group): for 5 consecutive days
rats were intravenously injected by 50 mg/kg 5-FU. Group III (5-Fluorouracil group
and Astaxanthin): got 5-FU as in group II, followed by astaxanthin 50mg/kg for 10
consecutive days. Group IV (BMMSCs): received 5-FU as in group II then
intravenously injected by 106 of BMMSCs once in rat tail. All rats were sacrificed on
the 35th day from the beginning of the experiment, to be examined microscopically,
stomach sections were stained by H&E to evaluate histopathological changes, stained
also with PAS to evaluate mucosal glycoprotein production, transmission electron
microscopic was used to evaluate ultra-structural changes and Immunohistochemistry
using Ki67 was used to evaluate level of cell proliferation. examination of stomach
Sections of group II showed separation in the gastric glands, congested blood capillary,
vacuolations of parietal cells, while (Gr III) and (Gr IV) showed marked stomach
histological structure improvement and down regulated expression of Ki67, compared
to the (GrII). electron microscope supported these results. Both BMMSCs and
Astaxanthin have good impact in ameliorating the toxic effect of 5-FU on albino rats
stomach, with no significant difference between both techniques.