Therapeutic Efficacy of Kalpaamruthaa on Lipid Peroxidation and Antioxidant Status in Experimental Mammary Carcinoma in Rats

There has been a growing interest in studying the role played by lipid peroxidation and antioxidant status in breast cancer. Free radicals are found to be involved in both initiation and promotion of multistage carcinogenesis. In the present study, effects of Kalpaamruthaa (KA), a modified Siddha preparation on the levels of lipid peroxides (LPO) and status of antioxidants in several tissues were studied in mammary carcinoma rats. The levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) were also measured in the control and experimental animals. A significant increase in the levels of LPO, ROS and a decreased levels of antioxidants observed in mammary carcinoma bearing rats were found to be reverted back to near normal levels on treatment with KA. Simultaneous treatment with KA showed more effect than post treatment with KA. Drug control animals showed no significant changes in the levels of ROS when compared with control animals. These results suggest that the free radical mediated damage during mammary carcinoma could have been controlled by KA by its free radical quenching and antioxidative potential. The above results also show that KA exert its anticancer effect on the development of breast cancer.