Evaluation of the therapeutic efficacy of Vitex agnus-castus extract on cisplatin-induced hematotoxicity in female Wistar rats

Research (Published online: 01-11-2023)

1. Evaluation of the therapeutic efficacy of Vitex agnus-castus extract on cisplatin-induced hematotoxicity in female Wistar rats

Aparna Tripathy, Archana Parampalli Raghavendra, Babi Dutta, and Sudarshan Surendran

Veterinary World, 16(11): 2186-2191

Aparna Tripathy: Division of Physiology, Department of Basic Medical Sciences, MAHE, Manipal, Karnataka, India.

Archana Parampalli Raghavendra: Division of Physiology, Department of Basic Medical Sciences, MAHE, Manipal, Karnataka, India.

Babi Dutta: Division of Biochemistry, Department of Basic Medical Sciences, MAHE, Manipal, Karnataka, India.

Sudarshan Surendran: Department of Clinical Anatomy and Medical Imaging, American University of Antigua College of Medicine, Antigua.

Background and Aim: Cisplatin (CP) is a preferred drug for cancer treatment but it has dose-dependent side effects. Vitex agnus-castus (VAC) berry extract has antioxidant, free-radical scavenging, and anti-inflammatory activities. This study explored the mitigating effects of VAC extract (VACE) on acute hematotoxicity induced by CP in female Wistar rats.

Materials and Methods: Female Wistar rats (n = 30) were randomly divided into five groups (n = 6/group). The normal control (NC) group received no treatment. The CP control group received CP (7 mg/kg.b.w. ip, single dose) and the drug control group (VACE-650) received VACE (650 mg/kg b.w. oral, daily) for 7 days. Both groups received a single dose of CP (7 mg/kg b.w. ip), followed by 350 and 650 mg/kg.b.w. of VACE daily orally (CPVACE-350 and CPVACE-650 groups, respectively) for 7 days.

Results: After a single dose of CP (7 mg/kg b.w.), the red blood cells (RBC), hematocrit (HCT), white blood cells (WBC), and platelets significantly decreased. In the VAC-350 group, the reduction in total WBC count was less than that in the VAC-650 group on the 3rd day. The RBC and HCT values of the VACE groups were better than that of the CP control, but the VACE-350 treatment group showed significant improvement only on the 3rd day.

Conclusion: Our findings showed that VACE can mitigate CP-induced damage to peripheral blood cells at lower doses.