4% in 1% acetic acid) was added to each well and plates were incubated at room temperature for 30 min. The

unbound SRB was quickly removed by washing the wells five times with 1% acetic acid. Plates were air-dried, tris-HCL buffer (100 μl, 0.01 M, pH 10.4) was added to all the wells, and plates were gently stirred for 5 min on a mechanical stirrer. The optical density was recorded on ELISA reader at 540 nm. Suitable blanks and positive controls were also included. Each test was done in triplicate. The value reported here in are mean of two experiments. Non-inbred Swiss albino mice from an in-house colony were used in the present study. The experimental animals were housed in standard size polycarbonate cages providing internationally EPZ-6438 order recommended ZVADFMK space for each animal. Animals were fed balanced mice feed supplied by M/s Ashirwad Industries, Chandigarh (India) and autoclaved water was available ad libitum. Animals were housed in controlled conditions of temperature (23 ± 2 °C), humidity (50–60) and 12:12 h of light: dark cycle. The studies were conducted according to the ethical norms and guidelines for animal care and were adhered to as recommended by the Indian National Science Academy, New Delhi (1992). Two different

solid tumor models namely Ehrlich tumor and Sarcoma-180 (S-180) were used.19 Animals of the same sex weighing 20 ± 3 g were injected 1 × 107 cells collected from the peritoneal cavity of non-inbread Swiss mice, bearing 8–10 days old ascitic tumor into the right thigh, intramuscularly on Day. The next day animals were randomized

and divided into test groups (7 animals) and one control group (15 animals). Test materials were administered intraperitonealy to test groups as suspension in 1% gum acacia for nine consecutive days. Doses of test materials administered per animal were contained in 0.2 ml suspension with 1% Gum acacia (solvent evaporated). The control group was similarly administered normal saline (0.2 ml, Tryptophan synthase i.p). The percent tumor growth inhibition in test groups was measured on Day 13 with respect to tumor weight, 5-Flurouracil (22 mg/kg, i.p) was used as positive control. The doses of the test materials are described under results. Data expressed as mean ± S.D., unless otherwise indicated. Comparisons were made between control and treated groups unpaired Student’s t-test and p values <0.01 was considered significant. In vitro cytotoxicity of all the three extracts (alcoholic, hydro-alcoholic and aqueous) of Cuscuta reflexa against four human cancer cell lines from different tissues namely lung, colon, liver, and breast origin was determined at 10, 30 and 100 μg/ml ( Fig. 1). Growth inhibition in a dose dependent manner was observed in all the cell lines by all the extracts. It was observed that aqueous extract was least effective against all the cell lines. The alcoholic extract and hydro-alcoholic extract were more or less equally active depending upon cell line and concentration.