Abstract

AMELIORATION OF CHEMICAL INDUCED HEPATIC CARCINOGENESIS BY AVERRHOA CARAMBOLA (STAR FRUIT) EXTRACT

Ritu Singh, Jyoti Sharma and P.K. Goyal*

ABSTRACT

The present study is designed to investigate the chemopreventive effect of Averrhoa carambola fruit extract (ACE), a medicinal plant with strong antioxidant properties, in reducing the oxidative stress and hepato-carcinogenesis induced by DENA/CCl4 in mammals. ACE has been trialed with two different doses (15 & 50 mg) against hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) which was induced after 24 weeks by giving single intra-peritoneal injection of the initiator Diethylnitrosamine (DENA; 15 mg/kg b.wt.) along with the oral administration of promoter carbon tetrachloride (1.6g/kg b.wt. in corn oil thrice a week). DENA caused cent percent tumor incidences with tumor yield scored as 24 ± 4.13. There was a significant (p<0.001) increase in LPO but significant decrease in the antioxidants as glutathione (p<0.001), catalase (p<0.001) and superoxide dismutase (p<0.001) in liver. Also, application of carcinogen leads to significant (p<0.001) drop in the level of total proteins. On contrary, oral administration of both the doses of Averrhoa carambola fruit extract (ACE) to mice significantly inhibited DENA induced hepatic lesions and lipid peroxidation but augmented the antioxidant status in the liver of mice. These results suggest that ACE supplementation prevents the development of chemical induced liver cancer by decreasing oxidative stress and preserving the activity of major antioxidant enzymes.

Keywords: Hepatocellular carcinoma, DENA, oxidative stress, chemoprevention, Averrhoa carambola extract.