Haematopoietic Activity of Asteracantha longifolia on Cyclophosphamide-induced Bone Marrow Suppression

Chloroform extract of the leaves of Asteracantha longifolia at different doses (250 and 500 mg/kg body weight) was examined on anaemic albino rat for certain haematological parameters like erythrocyte count, leukocyte count, and haemoglobin count. Chloroform extract was found to significantly (P<0.05) improve erythrocyte and haemoglobin count on the 22 day (d) after 7 d of continuous cyclophosphamide (3 mg/kg body weight) treatment. Treatment with chloroform extract along with cyclophosphamide was found to significantly (P <0.001) increase the bone marrow cellularity (11.5×10) as compared to cyclophosphamide alone treated group (6.2×10). Administration of extract increased the number of α-esterase positive cells (1062/4000) in the bone marrow of cyclophosphamide-treated animals, compared to the cyclophosphamide alone treated group (650/4000). The major activity of A. longifolia may be stimulation of stem cell proliferation. The observations that A. longifolia could reduce the cyclophosphamide-induced toxicity may indicate its usefulness in cancer therapy.