Research Article Saraca indica Bark Extract Shows In Vitro Antioxidant, Antibreast Cancer Activity and Does Not Exhibit Toxicological Effects Navneet Kumar Yadav, 1 Karan Singh Saini, 2 Zakir Hossain, 3 Ankur Omer, 1,4 Chetan Sharma, 5 Jiaur R. Gayen, 3,4 Poonam Singh, 1,4 K. R. Arya, 4,5 and R. K. Singh 1,4 1 Division of Toxicology, CSIR-Central Drug Research Institute, BS-10/1, Sector 10, Jankipuram Extension, Sitapur Road, P.O. Box 173, Lucknow 226031, India 2 Division of Endocrinology, CSIR-Central Drug Research Institute, BS-10/1, Sector 10, Jankipuram Extension, Sitapur Road, P.O. Box 173, Lucknow 226031, India 3 Division of Pharmacokinetics & Metabolism, CSIR-Central Drug Research Institute, BS-10/1, Sector 10, Jankipuram Extension, Sitapur Road, P.O. Box 173, Lucknow 226031, India 4 Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research, New Delhi 110 001, India 5 Division of Botany, CSIR-Central Drug Research Institute, BS-10/1, Sector 10, Jankipuram Extension, Sitapur Road, P.O. Box 173, Lucknow 226031, India Correspondence should be addressed to Poonam Singh; poonam singh@cdri.res.in and R. K. Singh; rk singh@cdri.res.in Received 14 November 2014; Accepted 7 January 2015 Academic Editor: Francisco Javier Romero Copyright © 2015 Navneet Kumar Yadav et al. is is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Medicinal plants are used as a complementary and alternative medicine in treatment of various diseases including cancer worldwide, because of their ease of accessibility and cost effectiveness. Multicomposed mixture of compounds present in a plant extract has synergistic activity, increases the therapeutic potential many folds, compensates toxicity, and increases bioavailability. Saraca indica (family Caesalpiniaceae) is one of the most ancient sacred plants with medicinal properties, exhibiting a number of pharmacological effects. Antioxidant, antibreast cancer activity and toxicological evaluation of Saraca indica bark extract (SIE) were carried out in the present study. e results of the study indicated that this herbal preparation has antioxidant and antibreast cancer activity. Toxicological studies suggest that SIE is safer to use and may have a potential to be used as complementary and alternative medicine for breast cancer therapy. 1. Introduction In recent years, large numbers of research studies are con- ducted, which stabilised the therapeutic use of antioxidants in treatment of various diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, neurodegeneration, inflammation, and cancer [1– 3]. Free radicals like hydroxyl, peroxyl, and superoxide radicals can be produced during normal metabolic function, are very transient and highly reactive, cause damage to the biomolecules, leading to adverse effects on human health, and cause severe diseases [4, 5]. Several studies showed that elevated level of free radicals is associated with carcinogenesis [6–9]. ROS is a double edge sword while ROS generation is essential for cell survival, proliferation, and progression of cancer cells. In contrast increased level of ROS also induces the apoptosis and hence plays a crucial role in cancer chemotherapy [10–12]. Damage caused by free radicals can result in formation of single and double strand breaks of DNA and oxidation of purine and pyrimidine bases, leading to genome instability and subsequent carcinogenesis [13–15]. erefore, protection of cell from oxidative damage by antioxidant supplements is very helpful in prevention and treatment of cancer [16– 18]. Since ancient time, medicinal plants were used as key therapeutic agents all over the globe, especially among Hindawi Publishing Corporation Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity Volume 2015, Article ID 205360, 15 pages http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2015/205360