CHEMOPREVENTIVE ACTION OF GARLIC ON METHYLCHOLANTHRENE-INDUCED CARCINOGENESIS IN THE UTERINE CERVIX OF MICE

The present paper reports the chemopreventive action of garlic on 3-methylcholanthrene (MCA)-induced carcinogenesis in the uterine cervix of virgin young adult Swiss albino mice. Insertion of sterile cotton thread impregnated with beeswax containing ∼600 μg of MCA inside the canal of uterine cervix results in the appearance of precancerous and cancerous lesions in the cervical epithelium. In this experimental cervical carcinogenesis model system, if garlic was administered orally at the dose level of 400 mg/kg body wt./day for 2 weeks before and 4 weeks following carcinogen thread insertion. The cervical carcinoma incidence, as compared with that of the positive control (73%), was 23%. This decline in the incidence of carcinoma was highly significant (P < 0.01). Hyperplastic and dysplastic changes did not show any definite correlation with the garlic treatment. © 1990.