Anticancer, Antibacterial & Pesticidal Activities of Co(II) Complex

Anticancer activity of a Schiff base cobalt (II) complexes synthesized from cobalt (II) acetate, salicylaldehyde and glycin, viz. (SGCo)2 [N-salicylidene glycinato diaqua cobalt(II) dimer] has been studied against Ehrlich Ascites Carcinoma (EAC) cells in Swiss albino mice by monitoring the parameters like tumor weight, survival time, cell growth rate etc. It has been found that (SGCo)2 at dose 10 mg/kg (i.p.) significantly decreases tumor weight (by 54%), increases life span (by 62%) and reduces tumor cell growth rate (by 74%) in comparison to those of EAC cell bearing mice. It has also found that the compound has no long term toxic effect to the host. This compound can, therefore, be considered as a probable new potent anticancer agent. The efficiency is more or less comparable to that of standard drug bleomycin (at dose 0.3 mg/kg i.p.). Further experiments involving advanced techniques are necessary with other cell lines to find out its applicability as a new anticancer drug for future. The compound is also found to be moderately active as an antibacterial agent when tested against some pathogenic bacteria (S. sonnei, E. coli etc) and as an insecticide (against T. castaneum).