C A NC ER LETTERS zyxwvutsrqpo ELSEVIER Cancer Letters 81 (1994) 193-200 Anticarcinogenic biological response of zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVU M kania cordata: reflections in hepatic biotransformation systems Anupam Bishayee, Malay Chatterjee* zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTS Division of Biochemistry, Department of Pharmaceutical Technology, Jadavpur University, Calcutta 700 032. India Received 8 October 1993; accepted 8 April 1994 zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUT Abstract The chemopreventi,ve role of an Indian medicinal plant Mikaniu cordata (Compositae), which is consumed as vegeta- ble and advocated in folk-medicine, has been evaluated through its effects on Phase 1 and 2 of the hepatic drug- detoxifying enzyme system in rats. Although oral administration of a methanolic extract of this plant root (50, 100 or 150 mg/kg for 4, 8 or 12 weeks) has been found to have very little or no effect on hepatic microsomal cytochrome P-450 and cytochrome b, contents as well as NADPH cytochrome c reductase activity, it afforded a marked induc- tion of uridine diphosphoglucuronyl transferase activities of liver microsomes. The extract also significantly increased the activities of microsomal uridine diphosphoglucose dehydrogenase, reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (phosphate): quinine reductase and cytosolic glutathione s-transferases with a concomittant elevation in the contents of reduced glutathione. All these effects were found to be dose-dependent and maintained during 12 weeks of the ex- tract treatment. Results of the study clearly indicate that the intracellular contents of active intermediates of various xenobiotics including chemical carcinogens would be reduced by the specific enhancement of drug-detoxifying enzymes in the liver of rats treated with the plant extract. Key w ords: M ikania corduta; Detoxifying enzymes; Reduced glutathione; Rat liver; Chemoprevention .I 1. Introduction The plant M ikania cordata (Burm.) B.L. Robin- son (Compositae) is frequently used in Asian and African traditional medicine for therapy of a broad spectrum of ailments [2,31,32]. In India, the plant is consumed a.s vegetable and thought to be eflicacious in the treatment of itch and as a poultice for wounds ‘[32]. During the last few * Corresponding author. years, the plant has drawn a considerable attention in view of its numerous pharmacological actions [1,6,39]. Of late, we reported a potent antihepato- toxic activity of a methanolic extract of this plant root against carbon tetrachloride-induced acute liver damage in mice [24,25]. We have also demonstrated that the observed antihepatotoxic potency of this extract is presumably related to an increased repair of hepatic parenchyma through improved ribosomal capacity and protein turn over [23,26]. Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved SSDI 0304-3835(94)03767-R