Evaluation of the anticarcinogenic activity of Swertia chirata Buch.Ham, an Indian medicinal plant, on DMBA-induced mouse skin carcinogenesis model.

Considerable attention has been focused on plants which are sources of natural anti-oxidant compounds, because most of them have a modulatory role on physiological functions and biotransformation reactions involved in the detoxification process. Such compounds are likely to afford protection from cytotoxic, genotoxic and metabolic actions of environmental toxicant thereby reducing the risk for cancer. The present study reports the anticarcinogenic activity of Swertia chirata Buch.Ham, an Indian medicinal plant. All the four detoxification enzymes studied viz, GST, GPx, SOD and CAT were found to be activated in different degrees following treatment with infusion of Swertia chirata, its crude extract and a purified 'Amarogentin' rich extract. The activation of the enzymes was accompanied by significant reduction in lipid peroxidation and inhibition of incidence as well as multiplicity of Dimethylbenz(a)anthracene (DMBA) induced papillomas. The effect of S.chirata on apoptosis and cell proliferation was also studied in mice skin exposed to DMBA. Both the crude and purified extracts significantly inhibited cell proliferation and induced apoptosis. This is the fi rst report of its kind and the observation suggests the chemopreventive potential of Swertia chirata. Copyright 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.