eCAM Advance Access originally published online on February 9, 2005
eCAM 2005 2(1):99-105; doi:10.1093/ecam/neh064
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Roots of Withania somnifera Inhibit Forestomach and Skin Carcinogenesis in Mice
1School of Life Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University New Delhi, India, and 2Present address: Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center Denver, CO, USA.
We evaluated the cancer chemopreventive efficacy of the Withania somnifera root, which has been used in the Indian traditional medicine system for many centuries for the treatment of various ailments. Since, studies showing its mechanism-based cancer chemopreventive efficacy are limited, this was investigated in the present study. We studied the effect of dietary administration of Withania root on hepatic phase I, phase II and antioxidant enzymes by estimation of its level/activity, as well as in attenuating carcinogen-induced forestomach and skin tumorigenesis in the Swiss albino mouse model. Our findings showed that roots of W.somnifera inhibit phase I, and activates phase II and antioxidant enzymes in the liver. Further, in a long-term tumorigenesis study, Withania inhibited benzo(a)pyrene-induced forestomach papillomagenesis, showing up to 60 and 92% inhibition in tumor incidence and multiplicity, respectively. Similarly, Withania inhibited 7,12-dimethylbenzanthracene-induced skin papillomagenesis, showing up to 45 and 71% inhibition in tumor incidence and multiplicity. In both studies, Withania showed no apparent toxic effects in mice as monitored by the body weight gain profile. Together, these findings suggest that W.somnifera root has chemopreventive efficacy against forestomach and skin carcinogenesis and warrants the identification and isolation of active compounds responsible for its anticancer effects, which may provide the lead for the development of antitumor agents.
Keywords: chemoprevention – drug metabolizing enzymes – antioxidant enzymes – papillomagenesis – Withania somnifera
*For reprints and all correspondence: Rana P. Singh, PhD, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, 4200 E 9th Ave, Box C238, Denver, CO 60262, USA. Tel: +1 303-315-2411; Fax: +1 301-315-6281; E-mail: Rana.Singh{at}UCHSC.edu
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  T. Jahangir and S. Sultana Perillyl Alcohol Protects Against Fe-NTA-Induced Nephrotoxicity and Early Tumor Promotional Events in Rat Experimental Model Evid. Based Complement. Altern. Med., December 1, 2007; 4(4): 439 - 445. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
M. M. Essa and P. Subramanian Hibiscus sabdariffa Affects Ammonium Chloride-Induced Hyperammonemic Rats Evid. Based Complement. Altern. Med., September 1, 2007; 4(3): 321 - 325. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
A. Vojdani and J. Erde Regulatory T Cells, a Potent Immunoregulatory Target for CAM Researchers: Modulating Tumor Immunity, Autoimmunity and Alloreactive Immunity (III) Evid. Based Complement. Altern. Med., September 1, 2006; 3(3): 309 - 316. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 H. Ichikawa, Y. Takada, S. Shishodia, B. Jayaprakasam, M. G. Nair, and B. B. Aggarwal Withanolides potentiate apoptosis, inhibit invasion, and abolish osteoclastogenesis through suppression of nuclear factor-{kappa}B (NF-{kappa}B) activation and NF-{kappa}B-regulated gene expression. Mol. Cancer Ther., June 1, 2006; 5(6): 1434 - 1445. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
A. Vojdani and J. Erde Regulatory T Cells, a Potent Immunoregulatory Target for CAM Researchers: The Ultimate Antagonist (I). Evid. Based Complement. Altern. Med., March 1, 2006; 3(1): 25 - 30. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|