Antiplasmodial and Cytotoxic Activities of two Euphorbiaceae Family Plants, Euphorbia hirta and Euphorbia thymifolia

摘要

Background: Malaria is a major disease in developing countries, and the main issue is its control of resistance against all available anti-malarial drugs. Our aim was to find affordable therapy for this global problem. The present study was conducted to evaluate the antiplasmodial and cytotoxic activities of Euphorbia hirta and Euphorbia thymifolia . Methods: The antiplasmodial activity was evaluated against chloroquine-sensitive (MRC-2), and chloroquine-resistant (RKL-9) strains of Plasmodium falciparum through schizont maturation inhibition and Plasmodium lactate dehydrogenase (PfLDH) activity assays. The cytotoxicity was performed by MTT assay on the Huh7 liver carcinoma cell line. Results: IC 50 for Pf LDH activity of E. hirta and E. thymifolia methanol extract against P. faciparum MRC-2 strain was 9.6 and 12.6 μg/mL, respectively, and against P. faciparum RKL-9 strain was 10.2 and 11.56 μg/mL, respectively. Methanol extract of E. thymifolia showed lower IC 50 (19.3 μg/mL) than methanol extract of E. hirta (24.7 μg/mL) in the MTT assay against Huh7 cell line. Conclusion: Both the plant methanol extracts showed a two-fold lower cytotoxic activity against hepatocyte-derived carcinoma cell line (Huh7) compared to in vitro inhibitory activity against P. falciparum strains (MRC-2 and RKL-9).