Antiangiogenic activity and the isolation of five phenolic compounds from Euphorbia milii ethyl acetate solvent extract

Abstract

Background: Euphorbia milii a medicinal plant from Euphorbia genus, has been used traditionally as a cure for cancer, warts and as a hepatoprotective agent in tropical areas like China, Myanmar, Brazil, and Pakistan. Previous literature investigated the effect of E. milii flower extract in some types of cancer cell lines. Objective: This study aims to evaluate the antiangiogenic activity of the ethyl acetate fraction of the methanolic crude extract of E. milii, in addition to the detection and isolation of some phenolic compounds. Materials and Methods: Detection of the phenolic compounds was achieved using TLC and HPLC chromatographic methods. Isolation was achieved by preparative layer chromatography based on Rf values. The isolated compounds were identified through HPLC and TLC, in addition to FTIR. The anti-angiogenic activity was evaluated employing rat aorta ring anti-angiogenesis assay. Results: Five phenolic compounds were isolated in this study namely, Luteolin, Apigenin, Isorhamnetin, Coumaric acid and Quercitrin. However phenolic compounds detected via TLC were, Silybin, Luteolin, Apigenin, Isorhamnetin, Coumaric acid and Quercitrin. Interestingly, HPLC detected Coumarin, Rutin, Catechin and Quercetin. Anti-angiogenesis assay found that E. milii ethyl acetate fraction inhibited new blood vessel growth significantly (p<0.05) by 94 + 3.6% as compared with DMSO negative control (0%), while when compared with Suramin positive control (100%) it showed no significant difference (p>0.05). Conclusion: E. milii showed significant anti angiogenic activity of its ethyl acetate fraction, suggesting the association of E. milii traditional use as anticancer and phenolic content, current data must be further evaluated.