Paclitaxel in combination with coumarin as a potentially effective anticancer agent

The antimitotic and clastogenic effects induced by paclitaxel alone, and when combined with coumarin at varying concentrations and volume ratios, were investigated on meristematic cells of Allium sativum L. root tips. Paclitaxel exhibited antimitotic effects by blocking cell division in metaphase at concentrations ranging from saturated to 10(-12) ppm. Paclitaxel when used alone at high concentrations (saturated, 10(-3) ppm, 10(-6) ppm) induced cytotoxic and chromosomal aberrations after 1 and 3 h incubation and cell death after 24 h incubation. Paclitaxel demonstrated fewer cytotoxic and clastogenic effects when combined with coumarin in a 1:9 ratio at low concentrations. The combination of 10(-12) ppm of paclitaxel with 200 ppm coumarin (1: 9) produced the best results as these agents worked together synergistically at the biochemical level to produce antimitotic effects with the fewest chromosomal aberrations. This mixture exhibited the potential to be used as an anticancer drug owing to its abilities to exert antimitotic activity without causing extreme clastogenic effects. Paclitaxel, when used alone or in combination with coumarin at high concentrations (greater than 10(-12) ppm), demonstrated possible carcinogenic potential when used in cancer therapy.