Antitumoral effect of the ethanolic extract of Prunella vulgaris L. in an in vivo murine lymphoma

Abstract

Context: Prunella vulgaris L. is a plant used by various cultures around the world due to its antitumor effect, among others. In vitro investigations have described various mechanisms of cytotoxic action but, it is necessary to further extend the observations of in vivo models, whit the possibility of analyzing the effect on tumor grown, time of life, as well as toxicity, which that will allow to promote the possible use of P. vulgaris in cancer in a safe and effective way. Aims: To evaluate the antitumor effect of P. vulgaris L. on L5178Y lymphoma in BALB/c mice as well as its acute toxicity in CD1 mice. Methods: For the tests, the crude ethanolic extract of P. vulgaris was used. Acute oral toxicity was studied in female CD1 mice. The antitumor effect was observed with the L5178Y ascitic tumor model, the effect on tumor growth and survival of the groups with vehicle, vincristine and with the extract were compared. Results: In the toxicity test, no mouse died at the doses used. In relation to the antitumor effect, it was observed that tumor growth was lower both in the positive control and in the different doses used of the P. vulgaris extract compared to the vehicle, while the estimate of survival was similar in the vehicle and in the groups with the extract. Conclusions: In this work, the ethanolic extract of P. vulgaris did not show toxicity and inhibited tumor growth, without improving survival.

Keywords

• cancer
• lymphoma
• medicinal plants
• tumor