Abstract
Epidemiological studies have revealed an inverse relationship between the consumption of fruits & vegetables and incidence of cancer. In the present study, we have looked into the anticarcinogenic potential of alizarin, a natural plant phenol, in N-nitrosodiethylamine (NDEA)-induced lung tumors in mice. Alizarin feeding through drinking water at a concentration of 9 μg/ml led to a significant reduction in tumor incidence at the initiation as well as at the post-initiation phases of carcinogenesis. Tumor incidence was reduced from 76.4% to 50% at the initiation phase, whereas continued feeding of the test compound till the termination of the experiment caused a further marginal decrease in the tumor incidence, and the tumor multiplicity, which declined from 3.30±0.36 to 1.87±0.30. Treatment of animals with alizarin at 1, 3, 9 μg/ml drinking water for 8 weeks led to an increase in glutathione-s-transferase (GST) activity and reduced glutathione (GSH) content in liver and lungs of mice. NADPH - and ascorbate - dependent lipid peroxidation (LPx) was inhibited in liver, whereas only later was inhibited in case of lungs. Alizarin feeding could induce the hepatic glutathione reductase (GR) activity. In conclusion, alizarin acts as chemopreventive agent against NDEA - induced lung tumors. Its mechanism of action may include enhanced endogenous antioxidant defense and drug deloxifications systems comprising of GST and GSH along with the suppression of free radical mediated process of lipid peroxidation.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 85-90 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | International Journal of Medicine, Biology and the Environment |
Volume | 29 |
Issue number | 1 |
State | Published - 2001 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Alizarin
- Antioxidant defense
- Lipid peroxidation
- Lung tumorigenesis
- N-nitroso diethylamine
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology