Abstract

INACTIVATION OF LEUKEMIA CELLS UNDER INFLUENCE OF RUBIA CORDIFOLIA EXTRACT

Sambit Dutta, Debasmita Dutta and Satadal Das*

ABSTRACT

Cancer is a major public health burden in both developed and developing countries. It is the second largest common disease spread world-wide. The abnormal growth of white blood cells in the blood and bone marrow is called as Leukemia. Leukemia is the 11th most common cancer worldwide. The mutations of oncogenes, virus infection, radiation are the common causative factors of abnormal growth of cancerous cells including Leukemia. Nowadays About 75–80% of the world‟s population prefers herbal therapy as a major treatment due to its better adequacy and satisfactoriness, which enhance human body‟s natural recovery with minimal side effects. Fruit and plant extracts have been presented from the past as promising agents in becoming a natural anticancer agents. A number of promising agents of medicinal plants are used in clinical and preclinical development. Several anticancer agents including taxol, vinblastine, vincristine, camptothecin derivatives, topotecan and irinotecan, etoposide etc. derived from plants are in clinical use all over world. So that initial study focuses on the active constituent of the plants. In this paper we particularly explored and emphasized on the effectiveness of the extract of the stem of the plant Rubia cordefolia in the treatment of acute myeloblastic leukemia (AML Type 5). We selected this extract because the stems are reported to be used in Tibetan medicine, where they are considered to have a bitter taste and a cooling potency and mainly applied in the treatment of blood disorders and fever of kidneys and intestines. The results of our study indicates inhibitory effect of this extract on leukemia cells indicating its possible use in future.

Keywords: Rubia cordifolia, leukemia, AML