HPLC Profile, Anticancer, Anti-inflammatory and Antioxidant Activities of Euphorbia inarticulata Ethanolic Extract

Abstract

Antioxidants, in addition to protection against oxidative stress, also possess anti-inflammatory and anticancer potentials. In this work, the ethanolic extract (EE) of Euphorbia inarticulata has been evaluated for antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anticancer activities. The antioxidant activity showed that EE significantly scavenges DPPH (IC 50 = 54.56 ± 2.38 µg/ml) and H 2 O 2 (77.44 ± 2.76 µg/ml), whereas ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) were found to be 100.93 ± 4.15 µg/ml and 46.72 ± 3.86 mg gallic acid equi/gm, respectively. The EE exhibited significant inhibition on COX-1 (IC 50 79.84µg/ml) and protein denaturation (IC 50 57.6 µg/ml), compared to indomethacin and diclofenac, respectively. Furthermore, EE was found to be effective in killing Huh-7 and HeLa cancerous cells with IC 50 104.62 (SI 2.36) and 145.11 µg/ml (SI 1.7), respectively, while doxorubicin displayed IC 50 0.71 (Huh-7) and 2.63 µg/ml (HeLa), whereas it was safe on normal MRC-5 cells. The HPLC analysis showed the presence of ellagic acid, caffeic acid, gallic acid, syringic acid, cinnamic acid and catechol which may be responsible for the promising antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anticancer potentials exerted by the ethanolic extract of E. inarticulata. These results conclude that Euphorbia inarticulata ethanolic extract has anti-inflammatory and anticancer effects by triggering oxidative stress.