Biochemical evaluation of antitumor effect of muthu marunthu (a herbal formulation) on experimental fibrosarcoma in rats

Natural products from plants are rich sources used for treating a number of diseases. Many of the pharmacological principles of the currently used anticancer agents have been initially isolated from plants. Most of the herbal drugs are a mixture of a number of plant ingredients. Their cumulative effect increases the efficacy of the drug in curing the diseases. Muthu Marunthu is a herbal formulation comprising of eight various plant ingredients, and has been claimed to possess antitumor effect. Therefore, attention has been focused on studying the various plant ingredients in the drug as a whole for its antitumor effects. It was observed that the growth rate in rats was normal and there was no change in blood parameters such as glucose, urea, proteins, cholesterol and also in the activities of pathophysiological enzymes such as lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase (GOT), glutamate pyruvate transaminase (GPT), alkaline and acid phosphatase after Muthu Marunthu administration. The tumor weight was found to be reduced in methylcholanthrene induced fibrosarcoma rats after Muthu Marunthu treatment. Elevated levels of glycocomponents of glycoproteins such as hexose, hexosamine, sialic acid and fucose in plasma of fibrosarcoma rats decreased significantly after Muthu Marunthu treatment. The DNA and RNA levels of liver and kidney, which were increased in fibrosarcoma rats, returned to near normal levels after Muthu Marunthu treatment. The vitamins such as A, C and E in plasma were decreased in fibrosarcoma rats but increased significantly after Muthu Marunthu treatment. The altered levels of copper, zinc and selenium in plasma have also been corrected after Muthu Marunthu treatment. These observations clearly suggested the antitumor potency of Muthu Marunthu in experimentally induced fibrosarcoma in rats.