Breast histopathological examination of Rattus norvegicus induced with 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene and treated with a blend of Zingiber officinale and Allium sativum ethanol extracts

Oraekei, Daniel Ikechukwu and Adione, Nnamdi Markben and Uzodinma, Chukwuka Benjamin and Abone, Harrison Odera (2025) Breast histopathological examination of Rattus norvegicus induced with 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene and treated with a blend of Zingiber officinale and Allium sativum ethanol extracts. GSC Biological and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 31 (2). pp. 127-136. ISSN 2581-3250

Breast cancer is a disease in which abnormal breast cells grow out of control and form tumors. Cancer cells can spread into nearby breast tissues; a condition known as invasion. This creates tumors that cause lumps or thickening. In 2022, there were 2.3 million women diagnosed with breast cancer and 670,000 deaths were recorded globally. Treatment combines surgery, radiation therapy, and medications. Attention has been diverted to herbal drugs due to toxicities of the orthodox anticancer drugs. This present study evaluated the potentials of Zingiber officinale and Allium sativum to treat breast cancer after inducement with 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA) through histopathological examinations. The ratio/proportion of the two herbs that gave the best results was also established using Rattus norvegicus breast cancer models. Female virgin Wister Rattus norvegicus aged 7 – 8 weeks old were used for this study. Fresh Z. officinale and A. sativum were purchased from the market, washed, dried, pulverized separately, and macerated in one liter of ethanol for 48 hours to extract the active components. Phytochemical analysis, acute toxicity, and histopathology studies were done using standard methods. Photomicrographs of the stained slides were taken to analyze the morphological and pathological changes for all the groups. All the treated groups including the control doxorubicin group reduced the histological deformities which was caused by cancer inducement to the minimum. Group 8 which was treated with 6;4 = ZO:AS had the greatest impact on the cancerous cells and showed only mild carcinoma with islands of uniform tumor cells.