Green tea ameliorates the side effects of the silver nanoparticles treatment of Ehrlich ascites tumor in mice

Background Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have anti-cancer effects with fewer side effects than standard chemotherapeutic agents, however, they exert oxidative stress-based adverse effects on normal cells and so their applications have raised concern about possible health and environmental risks. Objective We evaluated whether green tea extract (GTE), which contains potent antioxidants, could ameliorate AgNPs geno-, cyto-, and histotoxicities without decreasing their therapeutic potential against Ehrlich ascetic carcinoma (EAC). Results GTE enhanced the anti-cancer effect of AgNPs against EAC cells and ameliorated the genotoxic effect of AgNPs as indicated by lowering chromosomal aberrations and micronucleus frequencies. Additionally, GTE relieved most of degenerative histological changes induced by AgNPs. GTE restored the increased MDA and the decreased SOD, GPx and CAT serum levels induced by AgNPs to levels comparable to normal. The pre-treatment with GTE and AgNPs showed better improvement than the post-treatment strategy. Conclusions GTE can not only ameliorate AgNPs-induced adverse effects but also improve their anti-cancer effect against EAC. So, it could be useful in the treatment of liver dysfunction associated with AgNPs.