Ashwagandha may be drug candidate to treat aggressive cancer

NEW DELHI: Latest research conducted by scientists at IIT Delhi and Japan indicates that Ashwagandha(or Withania somnifera- an Ayurvedic herb) can be a potential drug candidate for treating an aggressive form of cancer.

A number of studies in the recent past suggested that Withanolides, Withaferin-A and Withanone, have multi-modal anticancer activities, according to a release issued by IIT Delhi.

Department of Biotechnology, India, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science & Technology (AIST, Japan), International Laboratory for Advanced Biomedicine (DAILAB) led by IIT Delhi's Professor D. Sundar and Biomedical Research Institute, AIST's reseachers-Renu Wadhwa and Sunil Kaul have together conducted this study.

"We jointly investigated the effect of Withaferin-A on isogenic telomerase positive and ALT cells and found that Wi-A caused inhibition
of ALT mechanism. Utilizing bioinformatics and experimental assays, we found that it causes strong telomere dysfunction and upregulation of DNA damage response in ALT cells suggesting that Wi-A is a new candidate drug for ALT cancers," said Sundar.

Sundar, the coordinator of DAILAB at IIT Delhi and other authors recommend in the study, "While effective chemotherapeutic drugs
for ALT cancers are yet awaited, bioactives from Ashwagandha leaf powder offer candidates for further research and development of new drugs for cancer treatment."

The research groups from IIT Delhi and AIST, Japan have been working together in collaboration on natural drugs for more than 7 years now. The agreement for collaboration for academic cooperation between IIT Delhi and AIST had provided an opportunity for IITD faculty and AIST scientists to bring complementary expertise and innovative problem solving capabilities by leveraging the infrastructure/expertise at both the institutions.