Inhibition of Tumor Growth and Angiogenesis by an Aqueous Extract of Terminalia bellirica Shivakumar Sa, Jayashree Kb, Salimath Bharathi P.a,* aDepartment of Biotechnology, University of Mysore, Manasagangotri, Mysore-570 006. Karnataka, India. bDepartment of Pathology, J.S.S. Medical College, Mysore, Karnataka-570 015, India. *For correspondence -salimathuom@rediffmail.com
Abstract The fruit of Terminalia bellirica, possess numerous medicinal properties and is usedinIndian traditional system of medicine since ancient times. In the light of above ethno-medicinal values of T.bellirica, in this study we investigated the antiangiogenic activitiy of different solvent extracts of Terminalia bellirica fruit pericarp (TbFP) using Ehrlich ascites tumor (EAT) model, of which the TbFP aqueous extract (TbFP-Ae) showed highly promising results. In order to grow and metastasize, the tumor cells stimulate the development of new blood vessels through a process known as angiogenesis. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) promotes angiogenesis, which is found to be elevated in majority of cancers. Our results indicate that, TbFP-Ae inhibits in vivo, the growth of tumor cells in the peritoneal cavity of mice, as measured by body weight, ascites formation and tumor cell number. The peritoneum of mice treated with TbFP-Ae also showed significant reduction in peritoneal angiogenesis, which was further confirmed by inhibition of neovascularization in chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) assay. Quantitation of VEGF using the ascitic fluid from TbFP-Ae treated mice showed significant reduction in VEGF secretion when compared to untreated controls.. Additionally we noted the attenuaion microvessel density (MVD) count in histological section of mice peritoneum. This is the first report indicating the presence of an antiangiogenic biomolecule in T.bellirica. Top Keywords Terminalia bellirica, ascites tumor growth, peritoneal angiogenesis, VEGF, microvessel density . Top |