Abstract
Cancer is the second largest killer in the world. Even though the treatment and diagnosis of cancers have increased manifold, the survival rate has not increased proportionately. This discrepancy is mainly due to the toxicity of the chemotherapeutic agents. Natural herbs possessing significant antitumour activity can be utilized to address this issue. Asparagus racemosus is a widely distributed medicinal plant having reported antitumor properties. A concomitant use of the aqueous extract of Asparagus racemous (AEAR) along with Cyclophosphamide (CTX) was studied for the reversal of myelosuppression and hemotoxicity induced by CTX and to test whether AEAR possess significant antitumor activity against Dalton’s Lymphoma Ascites (DLA) tumour in BALB/c mice model. The study consisted of preliminary physico-chemical character determination and phytochemical screening. AEAR was used at 216, 432 and 864 g/kg body weight doses designated as lower, medium and high doses respectively and CTX was used at 25 mg/kg body weight. Hemogram, total leucocyte count, differential leucocyte count, bone marrow cellularity and – esterase positive cells were assessed. Malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione, superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) levels were estimated as oxidative stress markers. Tumour volume, size, mean survival time, increase in life span and in vitro cytotoxicity assays involving trypan blue exclusion test and MTT assay were done for antitumor study. AEAR showed significant elevation in hemogram, total leucocyte count, differential count, bone marrow cellularity and -esterase positive cell activity. AEAR at medium and high dose levels showed significant elevation in anti-oxidant enzyme levels of MDA, Glutathione, SOD and CAT enzymes. They also reduced the tumour volume, size and significantly increased the life span and mean survival time of DLA bearing mice. In in vitro cytotoxicity tests also, the medium and high dose of AEAR showed significant cytotoxicity. AEAR at doses of 432 and 864 mg/kg body weight doses significantly reverses the myelosuppression and hemotoxicity. It enhances the levels of antioxidant enzymes and is also an antitumor agent and exerts significant cytotoxicity against DLA tumour cells. Asparagus racemosus provides a ray of hope in addressing the toxicity while using chemotherapeutic agents when used as an adjuvant therapy.