Vernonia scorpioides has been widely used in Brazil to treat skin problems and chronic
wounds, such as
ulcers of the lower limbs and diabetic lesions. In the present study, we investigated the effect of a
dichloromethane (DCM) fraction of V. scorpioides leaf extract on Ehrlich ascitic and solid
tumor-bearing mice. The animals were treated once a day with the DCM fraction at a concentration of 5 mg/kg, administered ip during and after the development of the
tumor. The lifespan, weight, number and type of leukocytes, number of
tumor cells, volume of solid and ascitic
tumors were measured. The development of the
tumor with pre-treated
tumor cells in vitro with the DCM fraction (5 mg/kg) was analyzed and the animals were sacrificed after 7 days. The DCM fraction (5 mg/kg) totally inhibited
tumor development when in direct contact with
tumor cells, and also ascitic
tumor development with in vitro treatment or when administered ip, in loco (after 7 days). Animals treated with the DCM fraction increased their lifespan ca. 2 weeks and maintained their
body weight for 30 days. When applied immediately after the inoculation of the
tumor cells in vivo, it totally abolished
tumor development, with
tumor development only decreasing when treatment was started 3 days after the
tumor challenge. These data suggest an
antineoplastic activity of the fraction. Oral or ip administration of DCM fraction (5 mg/kg) for 7 days did not reduce the solid
tumor volume. The cytotoxic activity described here differs from the conventional immune suppressing profile of standard
chemotherapy because it increases neutrophil influx to the peritoneal cavity. These results show that, besides exhibiting a tumoricidal activity, the DCM fraction also exhibits inflammatory activity.