Anticancer activity of pomegranate extract: effect on hematological and antioxidant profile against ehrlich-ascites-carcinoma in Swiss albino mice

Pomegranate (Punica granatum Linn), has been widely used in India's ancient Ayurveda system of traditional medicine which is commonly portrayed as a constituent in remedies. The present study was aimed to investigate the anticancer activity of the aqueous extract of P. granatum fruits (PGET) against ehrlich-ascites-carcinoma (EAC)-bearing Swiss albino mice. The PGET were administered to EAC bearing mice at the doses of 100, 200 and 400 mg/kg body weight (BW) intraperitonially for 14 successive days and 24 h of last dose and 18 h of fasting, the mice were sacrificed and the anticancer effect of PGET was appraised by evaluating tumor volume, viable, nonviable tumor cell count, tumor weight, hematological, biochemical parameters and histopathological changes of EAC mice. PGET showed momentous decrease in tumor volume, viable cell count, tumor weight and elevated the life span of EAC bearing mice. Hematological profile such as RBC, hemoglobin and lymphocyte count reverted to normal level in PGET treated mice. The extract at 400 mg/kg BW showed a noteworthy reduction in the level of lipid peroxidation and considerably increased the levels of antioxidant enzymes in the liver and observed significant restoration of histopathological changes in experimental animals. Hence, the current study revealed that the PGET was efficient in inhibiting the tumor growth in ascitic models and that is comparable to 5-Fluorouracil. The anticancer properties of P. granatum could be due to the presence of the various phytoconstituents in it.