RESUMEN
The aim of the present study is to divulge the chemopreventive potential of arabinogalactan (AG) on benzo(a)pyrene [B(a)P] induced initiation of lung carcinogenesis. AG is one of the naturally occurring bioactive polysaccharides which is widely found in medicinal plants. Male Balb/c mice were divided into four experimental groups. Group I served as control. Group II animals were injected with B(a)P (50 mg/kg b. wt. i.p.). Group III animals were administered with AG (7.5 mg/kg b.wt.) orally. Group IV animals received B(a)P and AG as in group II and group III, respectively. B(a)P treatment in mice resulted in imbalance of carcinogen metabolizing enzymes and respiratory marker enzymes at 2nd, 6th and 10th week of the experimental protocol. Also, it leads to the increased protein synthesis as depicted by increased argyrophilic nucleolar organizer regions (AgNOR) positive cells and altered histopathological features. Studies on bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (balf) of B(a)P exposed animals revealed increase in surface tension when compared with control counterparts. Apart from target tissue (lung), B(a)P also led to the clastogenic damage in other tissues (spleen and bone marrow) as depicted by increase in percentage of micronucleus cells at different time intervals. Treatment with AG efficiently counteracted all the above anomalies and restored cellular homeostasis. These observations suggest that AG has the potential to modulate B(a)P induced changes in the pulmonary tissue as well as other tissues which could have implications in delaying the initiation of carcinogenesis, however, further investigations are required to explore its complete mechanism of action.