TY - JOUR AU - Kataria, Hardeep AU - Shah, Navjot AU - Kaul, Sunil C. AU - Wadhwa, Renu AU - Kaur, Gurcharan PY - 2011 DA - 2011/02/14 TI - Water Extract of Ashwagandha Leaves Limits Proliferation and Migration, and Induces Differentiation in Glioma Cells SP - 267614 VL - 2011 AB - Root extracts of Withania somnifera (Ashwagandha) are commonly used as a remedy for a variety of ailments and a general tonic for overall health and longevity in the Indian traditional medicine system, Ayurveda. We undertook a study to investigate the anti-proliferative and differentiation-inducing activities in the water extract of Ashwagandha leaves (ASH-WEX) by examining in glioma cells. Preliminary detection for phytochemicals was performed by thin-layer chromatography. Cytotoxicity was determined using trypan blue and MTT assays. Expression level of an hsp70 family protein (mortalin), glial cell differentiation marker [glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP)] and neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM) were analyzed by immunocytochemistry and immunoblotting. Anti-migratory assay was also done using wound-scratch assay. Expression levels of mortalin, GFAP and NCAM showed changes, subsequent to the treatment with ASH-WEX. The data support the existence of anti-proliferative, differentiation-inducing and anti-migratory/anti-metastasis activities in ASH-WEX that could be used as potentially safe and complimentary therapy for glioma. SN - 1741-427X UR - https://doi.org/10.1093/ecam/nep188 DO - 10.1093/ecam/nep188 JF - Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine PB - Hindawi Publishing Corporation KW - ER -