Biol. Pharm. Bull. 28(1) 58—64 (2005)

Podophyllum emodii, Taxus brevifolia, Ochrosia elliptica and Campototheca acuminata, have provided active principles, used to control advanced stages of several malignancies in clinical settings. Most of these chemotherapeutic agents have been reported to exhibit severe normal tissue toxicity, accompanied by undesirable side effects. Further many of the potent antineoplastic drugs are highly expensive, mutagenic, carcinogenic and teratogenic. Therefore, the current investigations should be directed to find out alternative drugs, which are highly effective at non-toxic doses, inexpensive and accessible to the common man. This can be achieved by screening newer molecules or plant products, which may be effective at non-toxic dose levels. Ayurvedic system (Indian system of medicine) uses dry powder or crude extracts of plants to treat various disorders in humans including cancer. The observed effect is attributed not only to the single compound but also the other components present in the crude extract/s. The rationale for this type of treatment is that the toxicity of an active component may be counteracted by another component, which may not have the desired therapeutic property. Aegle marmelos, commonly known as bael, is a spinous tree belonging to the family Rutaceae. It is widely found in India, Bangladesh, Burma and Sri Lanka. It is distributed mainly within the sub-Himalayan forests, in dry hilly regions ascending to 4000 ft. It is called “Shivadume”, the tree of Lord Shiva. Since ancient time, its leaves are offered to Lord Shiva and Parvathi. Aegle marmelos has an important place in indigenous systems of medicine. Its edible leaf, root, bark, seed and fruits are valued highly in Ayurvedic medicine in India. In fact as per Charaka (1500 BC) no drug has been longer or better known or appreciated by the inhabitants of India than the bael. The leaves of bael are astringent, laxative, febrifuge, and expectorant. They are useful in ophthalmia, deafness, inflammations, catarrh, diabetes, asthmatic complaints and weakness of heart. The unripe fruit is bitter, acrid, sour, astringent, aids digestion and stomach irritation, and are useful in treating diarrhoea, dysentery, and stomachalgia. The roots of A. marmelos form an essential ingredient of dhasmula (ten roots), a medicine commonly used by Ayurvedic practitioners. Fresh aqueous and alcoholic leaf extracts of Aegle have been reported to possess cardiotonic effect like digitalis and decrease the requirement of circulatory stimulants. The aqueous decoction of the leaf has been shown to have a significant hypoglycemic effect. Aegle leaf extract has also been found to help in the regeneration of damaged pancreas (b-cells) in diabetic rats and is found to be as effective as insulin in restoring blood glucose and body weight to normal levels. Recently, the stem bark of bael has been reported to exhibit potent cytotoxic activities in human tumor cell lines. It has also been reported to possess cytotoxic effect on human breast cancer cell lines in vitro. However, the antineoplastic effect of the Aegle marmelos has not been investigated in vivo. Therefore, the present study was undertaken to obtain an insight into the antineoplastic effect of leaf extract of Aegle marmelos in Ehrlich ascites carcinoma bearing mice in vivo.