Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Effect of mebendazole on fibrosarcoma in hamsters

Dusica J Popovic¹ , Dusan Lalosevic¹, Kosta J Popovic², Ivan Capo¹, Jovan K Popovic³, Dejan Miljkovic¹

¹Department of Histology and Embryology; ²Department of Pharmacy; ³Department of Pharmacology, Toxicology and Clinical Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Republic of Serbia.

For correspondence:- Dusica Popovic Email: jovan.popovic@mf.uns.ac.rs

Accepted: 15 September 2017 Published: 31 October 2017

Citation: Popovic DJ, Lalosevic D, Popovic KJ, Capo I, Popovic JK, Miljkovic D. Effect of mebendazole on fibrosarcoma in hamsters. Trop J Pharm Res 2017; 16(10):2445-2451 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v16i10.19

© 2017 The authors.
This is an Open Access article that uses a funding model which does not charge readers or their institutions for access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) and the Budapest Open Access Initiative (http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read), which permit unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited..

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the effect of mebendazole on an in vivo solid tumor model of fibrosarcoma in hamsters.

Methods: 24 Syrian golden hamsters of both sexes with the approximate body weight of 100g were randomly distributed in 2 experimental and 2 control groups, with 6 animals in each group. BHK-21/C13 cells (2 x 10⁶) in 1 mL Glasgow Minimum Essential Medium (GMEM) were injected subcutaneously into the back of each animal in 3 groups. The experimental groups were treated with mebendazole (460 mg/kg) via a gastric tube on a daily basis, immediately after tumor inoculation. In addition, one experimental group received deoxycholic acid 20 mg/kg once a day. After 2 weeks, when the tumors were approximately 1 - 2 cm in the control group, all the animals were sacrificed, and their blood collected for laboratory analysis. The tumors were excised, their weight and diameters measured, and the volumes calculated. The tumor samples were histopathologically assessed and the main organs toxicologically analyzed. Images were taken and processed by an imaging software, and Ki-67-positive cells in the tumor samples were quantified.

Results: Mebendazole diminished tumor mitosis from 18.5 ± 3.02 to 13.5 ± 3.45 (p < 0.05), vasculature and tissue penetration, and increased necroses in tumor slices. Tumor volume and weight were insignificantly attenuated. Toxicity was not observed.

Conclusion: Mebendazole might be an effective non-toxic agent in sarcoma therapy.

Keywords: Mebendazole, Hamsters, BHK-21/C13 cells, Fibrosarcoma therapy, Tumor mitosis