Cellular immunity of Ashwagandha against doxorubicin toxicity

Doxorubicin is one of the important antitumor agents having a variety of therapeutic potency against variety of human tumors including soft tissue sarcoma, breast cancer, small cell carcinoma of the lung and acute leukemias. Similarly it has toxic effect on various parts of the body especially on immune system and heart. Whenever this drug is used on cancer patients, its toxicity acts on immune system of the patients by depressing the bone marrow. It has been suggested that Ashwagandha plays an important role in immune system regulation, but its impact on toxicity produced by cancer chemotherapy is still obscure. In present investigation to evaluate the efficacy of Ashwagandha against Doxorubicin (anti cancer drug) toxicity lymphocyte subpopulations activity was examined in Rats. After administration of Doxorubicin @ 5 mg/kg b.w. Intraperitoneal (I.P.) to rats marked reduction in the number of CD8+ cells and in the proportion of CD4+ cells were observed on day 21st. When Ashwagandha (300mg/kg b.w.) administered five days prior to Doxorubicin administration and continued for 21 days ((21 days was counted from the first exposure of Doxorubicin)) then significant increase in the number of CD8+ cells and in the proportion of CD4+ cells were observed. Thus findings of present investigation showed that Ashwagandha acts as an immunomodulator for cellular immunity and ameliorate the toxicity produced during cancer chemotherapy by mitigating the bone marrow depression.