A.L.Soomro  ( Department of Pathology, Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences, Jamshoro and Ziauddin Medical University*, Karachi. )
N. A. Jafarey  ( Department of Pathology, Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences, Jamshoro and Ziauddin Medical University*, Karachi. )

Various varieties of Fagonia are commonly found throughout Pakistan, parts of India and the Middle East.1 Fagonia indica is the variety found in Sindh and is locally known as Sacchi Booti, which literally translates as the 'True Herb'. It is used in folk medicine for cancer as well as all disorders considered to be due to poisons. This study was undertaken to see its effect on experimentally produced tumours in rats.

Thirty albino rats (15 male and 15 female) were used for producing a tumour. A number of carcinogens and co-carcinogens and their combinations including 20-methylcholanthrene, tobacco qawam, cortisone and croton oil were applied on the shaven skin of the back of the rats for fifteen weeks. As no tumour could be detected, in the 16th week four subcutaneous injections of 75 micrograms of methylcholanthrene mixed in 0.5 ml of olive oil were given at twice a week interval. In the 18th week 6 injections of 0.5 mgm of Hydrocortisone were given intramuscularly in the thigh muscle. Local application of tobacco qawam on the shaven skin was continued from the 19th to 22nd weeks. The first subcutaneous tumour nodule was palpated in the 23rd week. From then on till the 40th week tumour nodules appeared in 26 out of the 30 animals. When the tumour nodules reached the size of 1 cm the animals became eligible for study and that day became day 0 for further observations. In 2 rats a biopsy was done to confirm the appearance of a malignant tumour.
Ten rats (5 male and 5 female) with subcutaneous tumours of 1 cm size were given 5.0 ml of freshly prepared crude extract of Fagonia indica plant daily for six weeks. The other 16 rats were used as controls. All 26 rats were followed till they died when an autopsy was performed. During the period of survival all 26 rats were examined daily and their weight and the size of the tumour were recorded.
The extract of Fagonia was prepared by cutting in to small pieces the whole plant-stem, thorns, leaves, fruits and flowers. All the pieces were soaked in 1.5 litres of water for 24 hours. After filtering through muslin cloth 5 ml of the extract was fed to designated rats.

Results

The survival of the rats administered Fagonia extract was significantly longer than the control group (Table). In the treated group the survival of female rats was 83.2+12.67 days (range 55-118 days), while that of the treated male rats was 59.4+ 10.07 days (range 39-98). In the untreated female rats the survival was 38.9+4.16 days (range 21-57 days) while the non-treated males survived for 17.0+2.55 days (range 10-27 days). The difference in survival between the treated and untreated rats was statistically significant (P<0,.01) in both the male and female rats. In treated group the difference between the survival of female and male rats was statistically significant (P <0.01) with the females surviving longer. In the non-treated group no such difference was found between the survival of male and female rats (P>0.1).
This paper is based on the work done in the Department of Pathology, Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, Karachi in 1978 in partial fulfillment of the requirements of M. Phil in Pathology from University of Karachi.

Mean Survivsl indays from day 0 ±SD

Rang in days

P Value

Treated Female 83.2±12.67 55-118   (n=5) <0.01   Male 59.4±10.07 39-98   (n=5) Untreated Female 38.9±98 21-57   (n=10) >0.1   Male 17.0±2.55 10-27   (n=6)

P Value of treated vs non-treated in both males and females = < 0.01
At autopsy the tumours were histologically classified as Rhabdomyosarcoma.

This initial experiment has shown that an aqueous infusion of Fagonia indica has a tumourostatic effect which is more significant in the females. There is available reason for the longer survival of females receiving treatment.
An unpublished double blind trial of an extract of Fagonia indica done in stage 4 cases of carcinoma of the oral cavity showed similar tumourostatic effect.
There is a need for further studying the effect of various Fagonia extract in experimental animals.

This initial experiment has shown that an aqueous infusion of Fagonia indica has a tumourostatic effect which is more significant in the females. There is available reason for the longer survival of females receiving treatment.
An unpublished double blind trial of an extract of Fagonia indica done in stage 4 cases of carcinoma of the oral cavity showed similar tumourostatic effect.
There is a need for further studying the effect of various Fagonia extract in experimental animals.

References

1. Ahmad V, Basha A. Spectroscopic data of Saponins. CRC Press, Boca Raton: USA, 2000.