MSRUAS-SASTech Journal 29 Vol. 14, Issue 1 Anticancer Activity of Extracts of Leaf of Ophiorrhiza mungos L. on Dalton’s Ascitic Lymphoma in Mice Varadharajan Madhavan, *Anita Murali, Christin Rachel John Faculty of Pharmacy, M. S. Ramaiah University of Applied Sciences, Bangalore 560 054 *Contact Author e-mail: anitamurali.pg.ph@msruas.ac.in Abstract The present investigation was aimed at evaluating the anticancerpotential of the alcohol and aqueous extracts of leaf of Ophiorrhiza mungos L. on DAL in mice. Animals were inoculated with DAL cells (106 cells/mouse, i.p.) The extracts wereadministered at doses 400 and 800 mg/kg p.o. All the groups except the normal control received DAL cells. The parameters estimated were: Cancer cell count, Packed Cell Volume (PCV), Tumor mass, Increase in Life Span (ILS), Hematological parameters - RBC count, WBC count. HPTLC profiles for Camptothecinin the extracts were also obtained. Following, inoculation with DAL cells, there was profound proliferation of tumor cells in peritoneal cavity of animals which was significantly normalized by the extracts. Significant (p<0.001) changes were observed in tumor and haematological parameters. Key Words: Ophiorrhiza Mungos, Dalton’s Ascitic Lymphoma, Camptothecin 1. INTRODUCTION Cancer is a scourge afflicting mankind from time immemorial. In spite of spectacular advances made by medical science during present century, treatment of cancer remains an enigma [1]. Many naturally occurring substances were tested for anticancer activity on experimental animals resulting in present availability of some 30 effective anticancer drugs [2]. Camptothecin is a pyrrolo quinoline alkaloid, used in the treatment of cancer. It was originally identified in extracts of Camptotheca acuminata Descne [3]. Subsequently Camptothecin was also isolated from Ophiorrhiza mungos Linn [4]. O. mungos belongs to the family Rubiaceae. Decoction of roots, leaves and bark are given as stomachic. Leaves are used for dressing ulcers, as anthelmintic, to counteract poisonous effects of scorpion sting, rat and snake poisoning. Leaves and stems of O. mungos contain hydrocyanic acid. Leaves contain Camptothecin, 10-methoxycamptothecin and β- sitosterol. Roots contain starch and a light brown resin [5-7]. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the anticancer property of the alcohol and aqueous extracts of leaf of O. mungos. Such studies have not been carried out on the leaves of O. mungos and hence the present investigation [8]. 2. METHODOLOGY 2.1 Plant material Leaves of O. mungoswere collected from the forests of Thenmalai, Kerala during November 2007, taxonomically identified and authenticated by Dr. S. N. Yoganarasimhan, Taxonomist using local floras [9,10]. A voucher herbarium specimen, Christin Rachael 017, was prepared and has been deposited in the herbarium of the Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy; a sample of the crude drug has been deposited in the crude drug museum of the institution. The air dried powdered drug material was subjected to soxhlet extraction with different solvents in the order of increasing polarity. The extracts were subjected to preliminary phytochemical screening [11]. HPTLC method was developed for fingerprinting of Camptothecin in alcohol and aqueous extracts of O. mungos [12]. 2.2 Preparation of extracts for anticancer activity studies Total alcohol extract was prepared by soxhlation method using 95% v/v ethanol and total aqueous extract was prepared by maceration with chloroform water. 2.3 Animals Swiss albino mice of either sex weighing 20-25 g were used for the acute toxicity and anticancer studies. 2.4 Acute toxicity study Acute toxicity studies were carried out following the methods described by Ghosh [13]. 2.5 Anti - cancer study [14-16] The animals were divided in to 7 groups containing 8 animals each. Group 1: Normal control group treated with distilled water; Group 2: Positive control group inoculated with DAL cells; Group 3: Standard group inoculated with DAL cells and treated with 5- Fluorouracil (20 mg/kg p.o); Group 4: Test group inoculated with DAL cells and treated with alcoholextract of drug (400 mg/kg p.o); Group 5: Test group inoculated with DAL cells and treated with alcohol extract of drug (800 mg/kg p.o); Group 6: Test group inoculated with DAL cells and treated with aqueous extract of drug (400 mg/kg p.o); Group 7: Test group inoculated with DAL cells and treated with aqueous extract of drug (800 mg/kg p.o.). DAL cells were injected intraperitoneally (106 cells/mouse, i.p.) to 6 groups of animals (only normal group did not receive the DAL cells). On the second