Bioactivity screening and phytochemical profiling of selected species of Euphorbia L Euphorbiaceae

Abstract

Euphorbia is one of the three groups of flowering plants with the highest species richness. Euphorbia plants have been used in traditional medicine for centuries in various parts of the World, including China, Europe, India, Africa, Iran, and Pakistan. Traditional medicine has utilised various species of Euphorbia to treat a range of ailments. The distribution of phytochemicals and potential biological activities of three Euphorbia species (E. deccanensis, E. rothiana, and E. thymifolia) are the focus of the current study. The phytoconstituents found in the chosen Euphorbia species were identified using GC-MS and HR LC-MS analyses, quantitative estimation of major phytoconstituents, and qualitative phytochemical analyses. It was observed that there were more non-volatile chemicals than volatile ones in all three selected Euphorbia species. In the HRLC-MS analysis, the methanolic extract of E. deccanensis contained the highest concentration of phytoconstituents. The phytochemical profiling revealed the presence of numerous bioactive secondary metabolites with synergistic activity that can have significant therapeutic effects. DPPH, hydroxyl, nitric oxide, ABTS, and superoxide radical scavenging assays were employed to evaluate the ability of the selected Euphorbia species to scavenge free radicals. The E. deccanensis extract demonstrated strong antioxidant activity, according to the IC50 values. The potential of the selected Euphorbia species to reduce inflammation was first assessed using two in vitro biochemical assays, and the most effective plant extract (E. deccanensis) was chosen for further investigation of its activity on the LPS-induced RAW 264.7 macrophage cell line. ELISA was used to measure COX-2, one of the main inflammatory mediators. From the results, the plant extract of E. deccanensis can be considered a good candidate for anti-inflammatory experiments. The methanolic extracts of the three selected Euphorbia plants were tested for cytotoxicity using the Allium cepa root tip assay. The percentage of aberration increased, and the mitotic index decreased as a result of the cytotoxic effects of all three plant extracts in relation to dosage. All three extracts showed both clastogenic and non-clastogenic aberrations. To evaluate the antiproliferative potential of the selected Euphorbia plants, the MCF-7 (human breast cancer) cell line and the normal L929 cell line were chosen. On analysing the cell viability percentages and the LC50 values of all three extracts in both the cell lines through MTT assay, E. deccanensis was found to significantly suppress the proliferation of MCF-7 breast cancer cells. This extract was chosen for further studies. The double staining method revealed that the cause of the antiproliferative effect was due to apoptosis rather than necrosis. Flow cytometry analysis revealed that the stoppage of the cell cycle occurred at the GO/G1 phase of the cell cycle. The upregulation of p53 and downregulation of STAT-3 further confirmed the anticancer effect of E. deccanensis methanolic extract on the breast cancer cells under investigation. Silver nanoparticles were effectively synthesized from the three Euphorbia species under consideration. They are characterised using FTIR, FE-SEM, and UV-visible spectroscopy. Silver nitrate was considerably reduced to silver nanoparticles in every plant extract that was examined. A reddish-brown colour developed when the plant extract and 2 mM silver nitrate solution were mixed, signifying the production of silver nanoparticles. The development of silver nanoparticles was confirmed by UV-visible spectroscopy. FE-SEM analysis was used to determine the morphology of the synthesised nanoparticles, which showed that they were roughly spherical and ranged in size from 23 to 44 nm. FTIR analysis was used to identify the different phytocompounds that contributed to the reduction of the silver nitrate solution to Ag NPs. In antibacterial tests, green-synthesized silver nanoparticles have proven to be effective against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. The biofabricated Ag NPs of all three Euphorbia species also demonstrated significant antifungal properties. Thus it is confirmed that all three Euphorbia plant species contain components that inhibit the growth of deadly pathogenic microorganisms.