Phytother Res. 2001 May; 15(3): 240-4.

Chemopreventive activity of Withania somnifera in experimentally induced fibrosarcoma tumours in Swiss albino mice.

Prakash J, Gupta SK, Kochupillai V, Singh N, Gupta YK, Joshi S.

Department of Pharmacology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi - 110029, India.

The current experimental work deals with the chemopreventive studies of a hydroalcoholic extract of Withania somnifera roots, against 20-methylcholanthrene induced fibrosarcoma tumours in Swiss albino mice. A single subcutaneous injection of 200 microg 20-methylcholanthrene in 0.1 mL of dimethylsulphoxide into the thigh region of mice produced a high incidence (96%) of tumours. Oral treatment of animals with 400 mg/kg body weight of Withania somnifera extract (one week before injecting 20-methylcholanthrene and continued until 15 weeks thereafter) significantly reduced the tumour incidence, tumour volume and enhanced the survival of the mice, compared with 20-methylcholanthrene injected mice. The tumour incidence was also delayed in the treatment group when compared with 20-methylcholanthrene injected mice. Liver biochemical parameters revealed a significant modulation of reduced glutathione, lipid peroxides, glutathione-S-transferase, catalase and superoxide dismutase in extract treated mice compared with 20-methylcholanthrene injected mice. The mechanism of chemopreventive activity of Withania somnifera extract may be due to its antioxidant and detoxifying properties.Copyright 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.