Frankincense Derivatives Enhanced Bone Marrow and Spleen Cellularity Following Busulfan - Cyclophosphamide Conditioning Regimen

The power of chemotherapy on prolonging and improving the life of patients is undeniable, but it often consists of various side effects. Therefore, developing of effective strategies for reduction of chemotherapy drugs toxicity is necessary. Natural products including frankincense - derived products have been demonstrated to reduce chemotherapy side effects. The aim of this study was to diminish the side effects of Busulfan - Cyclophosphamide (Bu - Cy) regimen as chemotherapeutic agents with the aid of frankincense derivatives administration in the mice model.

The chemotherapy conditioning regimen was created in Female Balb / c mice by intraperitoneal injection of 60 mg Busulfan and 150 mg Cyclophosphamide per kg of mice. Frankincense derivatives including essential oil (Ess), soxhlet oil (Sox) and n-hexane extract (Ext) were extracted and injected intraperitoneally to chemo - conditioned mice.

As expected, mice treated with Bu - Cy chemotherapy had lower bone marrow cells count and spleen index compared to the control, whereas frankincense derivatives helped reducing side effects and modifying immune system and general health.

Despite that all three extracts have decreased the side effects of chemotherapy; Ext could simultaneously increase the spleen index and the bone marrow cells count and also improve the health in comparison with the negative control group.