Chemomodulatory Effects of Aegle Marmelos Against DMBAInduced Skin Tumorigenesis in Swiss Albino Mice

Aegle marmelos is widely used in Indian Ayurvedic medicine for the treatment of diabetes mellitus. In thepresent study, cancer chemopreventive properties were evaluated on 7, 12-dimethylbenz (a) anthracene (DMBA)induced skin papillomagenesis in Swiss albino mice. A single topical application of DMBA, followed 2 weekslater by repeated application of croton oil till the end of the experiment ( i.e. 16 weeks) caused a 100% tumorincidence. In contrast, mice treated with the AME (50 mg/kg b. wt./animal/day) in the peri-initiational phase(i.e. 7 days before & 7 days after DMBA application; Group IV) and post-initiational phase (from the day ofcroton oil treatment till the end of the experiment; Group V), exhibited a significant reduction to 70 and 50%respectively. The cumulative number of papillomas after 16 weeks was 67 in the control group, but 26 and 23 inthe animals treated with AME at peri-initiational and post-initiational stages, respectively. The tumor burdenand tumor yield were significantly decreased (Group IV-3.7, 2.6; Group V- 4.6, 2.3) as compared to carcinogentreated control group (6.7, 6.7). The present study demonstrates the chemopreventive potential of Aegle marmelosfruit extract on DMBA induced skin tumorigenesis in mice.