Antitumor Activity ofCitrus maxima(Burm.) Merr. Leaves in Ehrlich's Ascites Carcinoma Cell-Treated Mice

Sriparna Kundusen,Prerona Saha,Asis Bala,Upal K Mazumder,Malaya Gupta,Pallab K Haldar

doi:10.5402/2011/138737

Abstract

Context. The plant Citrus maxima Merr. (Rutaceae), commonly known as shaddock or pomelo is indigenous to tropical parts of Asia. The objective of present study is to evaluate the methanol extract of Citrus maxima leaves for its antitumor activity against Ehrlich's Ascites Carcinoma cell in Swiss albino mice. Experimental design. The antitumor activity of methanol extract of Citrus maxima leaves (MECM) was evaluated against Ehrlich Ascites Carcinoma (EAC) cell line in Swiss albino mice. 2 × 106 cells were inoculated in different groups of animals. MECM (200 and 400 mg/kg BW i.p.) was administered for nine consecutive days. On day 10th half the animals of different groups were sacrificed for determination of tumor and haematological parameters and the rest half were kept with sufficient food and water ad libitum for determination of increase in life span. Result and Discussions. Oral administration of the extract at the doses of 200 and 400 mg/kg significantly decreased tumor parameters such as tumor volume, viable tumor cell count and increased body weight, hematological parameters and life span in respect of the EAC control mice. Conclusion. Experimental design exhibits significant antitumor activity of the extract (MECM) in a dose dependant manner.

Highlights

Cancer, otherwise termed as Malignant Neoplasm, is a class of diseases in which a group of cells show abnormal proliferation of cells, invasion and sometimes metastasis
Twenty-four hours of last dose and 18 h of fasting, six animals of each group were sacrificed by cervical dislocation for measurement of tumor and biochemical parameters, and the rest were kept with food and water ad libitum to check the percentage increase in life span
The present study showed that methanol extract of Citrus maxima leaves (MECM) significantly decreased the white blood cell (WBC) count and prolonged the life span of the Ehrlich Ascites Carcinoma (EAC)-treated groups as compared to those of the EAC control group

Summary

Introduction

Otherwise termed as Malignant Neoplasm, is a class of diseases in which a group of cells show abnormal proliferation of cells, invasion and sometimes metastasis. Citrus maxima and C. grandis (family: Rutaceae) are both currently used for the shaddock or pomelo. The major flavanones of pomelo are neohesperidin and naringin, which are high in the seed in case of unripe citrus fruits [5] and its extract showed antioxidant activity through free radical-scavenging in vitro and to reduce reactive oxygen species in H2O2-treated HepG2 cells [6]. DPPH free radical scavenging activity and ferric-reducing antioxidant power values determined for the essential oil were 26.1 ± 1.2% and 2.3 ± 0.3 mM, respectively, which were significantly higher than those of various fruit pulp extracts [7]. The induction of apoptosis was confirmed by caspase-3 activity assays and by immunoblotting using antibodies against Bcl-2, Bax, poly(ADPribose) polymerase, caspase-9, and caspase-3 [11]

Materials and Methods

Results

Discussion