Patent ID: 8668908

Claim:
A method for maintaining or enhancing the numbers of leukocytes and red blood cells in a chemotherapy patient, comprising orally administering to the patient an amount of a pharmaceutical composition, as a chemotherapeutic adjuvant, containing an effective amount of an extract of Dioscorea sp. for maintaining or enhancing the numbers of leukocytes and red blood cells in the patient to alleviate leukopenia side effects caused by the chemotherapy, wherein the extract of Dioscorea sp. is prepared by a process comprising (a) extracting a tuber of Dioscorea alata L. cv. Phyto with an alcohol-based solvent in the presence of 1% acetic acid to obtain a soluble fraction having the extract of Dioscorea sp., and the alcohol-based solvent is a methanol based solvent, an ethanol based solvent, or a mixture thereof.