Effect of rasayanas in the inhibition of lung metastasis induced by B16F-10 melanoma cells.

Five rasayanas and one of the ingredients Emblica officinalis (EO), were studied for their antimetastatic activity using B16F-10 melanoma cells in C57BL/6 mice. Simultaneous oral administration (50 mg/animal/dose) of Brahma Rasayana (BR) and Aswagandha Rasayana (AR) significantly reduced the lung tumour nodule formation by 71.28% (P < 0.001) and 55.6% (P < 0.001), respectively. Similarly, the lung collagen hydroxyproline content and the serum sialic acid levels were also low in BR treated (4.8 +/- 0.97 ug/m protein; 35.6 +/- 2.6 ug/ml serum) and AR treated animals (6.15 +/- 0.5 ug/mg protein; 56.3 +/- 8.7 ug/ml serum) compared to the untreated controls (10.43 +/- 0.7 ug/mg protein; 161.3 +/- 9.5 ug/ml serum). Narasimha Rasayana (NR), Amrithaprasam (AP), Chyavanaprasam (CP) and Emblica extract (EO) administration had no significant effect in the reduction of lung nodule formation and lung hydroxyproline and serum sialic acid contents which was similar to that of untreated controls. Life span of BR, AR and NR treated animals was found to be significantly increased. These results indicate that BR and AR possess antimetastatic activity against melanoma cells.