Chemopreventive Effect of 80% Methanol Leaf Extract of Vernonia auriculifera Hiern (Asteraceae) against Dimethylhydrazine-Induced Colorectal Carcinogenesis in Rats
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Date
2019-07
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a disease originating from the epithelial cells lining the colon or rectum of the gastrointestinal tract. Researchers revealed that herbal sources can be useful for the successful management of CRC. Vernonia auriculifera is among the Ethiopian folk medicine claimed to be used for different types of cancer and other diseases. Nevertheless, in vivo pharmacological investigations have not been performed to substantiate its chemopreventive and curative activities. To this effect, this study aimed at investigating the chemopreventive potential of hydroalcoholic leaf extract of V. auriculifera in dimethylhydrazine (DMH)-induced CRC in rats through a two-phase study (pre-initiation and post-initiation). The crude extract was administered at doses of 100, 200 and 400 mg/kg. Parameters including percent weight increment, growth rate, average tumor number, size, progression and incidence as well as biochemical markers such as total protein, total cholesterol, and triglyceride were then determined. The extract exerted significant chemoprevention in terms of increasing percent body weight increment, reduction in average tumor number and size compared to untreated rats (p < 0.05). The extract also decreased tumor incidence. High dose of the extract in the pre-initiation phase had reduced tumor incidence by 50%. However, the lowest tumor incidence (33%) was obtained by treatment with aspirin (60 mg/kg). Furthermore, pre-initiation regimens showed greater reduction in the number of invasive adenocarcinomas compared to post-initiation regimens. The extract inhibited CRC associated serum total cholesterol and triglyceride increment (p < 0.05), but didn`t produce significant effect on total protein level. In conclusion, the findings of the present study showed that the leaf of V. auriculifera possesses chemopreventive activity which supports the traditional claim and is a potential source for developing more effective and safer anticancer drugs following in-depth investigations on the plant.
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Colorectal cancer, Vernonia auriculifera, chemoprevention, pre and post-initiation