Studies with MPG against the side effects of cyclophosphamide (Endoxan) --a preliminary study
Kumar, S.; Raghunath, P.N.; Joseph, C.D.; Vasudevan, D.M.
Indian Journal of Cancer 22(3): 228-232
1985
ISSN/ISBN: 0019-509X PMID: 3843325 Document Number: 258434
The alteration in the total leucocyte count was studied in Swiss albino mice and Albino rats after a single i.p. injection of Endoxan with or without MPG. It was found that MPG post-treatment reduced the incidence of leucopenia induced by Endoxan in mice and rats. The interaction of MPG and Endoxan (with different doses) was also investigated in terms of mortality during seven days. It was noted that MPG treatment enhanced the survival of mice against Endoxan induced mortality. These preliminary data suggest that MPG may interact with Endoxan damage in the same way as it interacts with radiation damage. Various chemotherapeutic agents are now available for the treatment of cancer. However, the therapeutic dose and toxic dose of most of them overlap very much, so that margin of safety is so thin with regards to most of the anticancer drugs. A number of investigators are working on with a view to find out a suitable drug against the cytotoxic effects of anti-cancer drugs to healthy tissues. We have selected a synthetic SH compound MPG (2 mercaptopropionyl glycine) to test against the side effects of anticancer drug Endoxan. MPG is a potent antitoxic, clinically used in various hepatic disorders and effective at a very low non-toxic dose of 20 mg/kg b. wt., far below its toxic dose i.e. 2100 mg/kg b.wt. 1, 2, 13, 14, 16. MPG is capable of liberating of SH group which has an important physiological function in the human body as an antitoxic agent and is an enzymatic activator. Our previous studies have shown that MPG modifies radiation damage in vivo by reducing the death of animals and provide effective protection to the various tissues of mice against gamma rays injury. The present study was undertaken with a view to find out the modifying properties of MPG for anti-cancer drugs. In this paper we are publishing preliminary results obtained with MPG against the side effects of Endoxan in mice.