Pakistan Journal of Biological Sciences1028-88801812-5735Asian Network for Scientific Information10.3923/pjbs.2020.995.1003Euphorbia Species Used in Traditional Medicine]]>Tebogo Michael MampaSetlabane MasheleSamson Sitheni Patience SekhoachaMamello 82020238Background and Objective: Chromatographic fingerprinting of plant species play an important role in species identification and standardization of plant based health products. Some of the Euphorbia species are used in folk medicine, yet majority of these exhibit various degrees of toxicity. It becomes a challenge to distinguish the toxic from the non-toxic species. The study aimed to evaluate cytotoxicity and to determine the method for fingerprinting the chemical constituents of the selected Euphorbia species to identify markers of toxicity. Materials and Methods: Hexane, DCM, ethyl acetate and methanol extracts of E. arabica, E. bupleurifolia, E. enopla, E. gorgonis, E. horrida indigenous and E. horrida var. were examined in mammalian vero cell line using MTT cell viability test assay. The presence of secondary metabolites and proteins were assessed in the plant extracts and thin layer chromatography was used to identify toxicity markers. Results: The hexane and DCM extracts of E. arabica, E. bupleurifolia and the DCM extract of E. horrida var. exhibited the highest cell growth inhibition reaching IC50 at a concentration of 10 μg mL1. Both polar and non-polar extracts of E. enopla exhibited cell growth inhibition with the hexane extract reaching IC50 at a concentration of 10 μg mL1. Euphorbia gorgonis and E. horrida indigenous were not active against the vero cell line. Secondary metabolites were detected, however, proteins were not detected in all six Euphorbia species. The TLC profiles of toxic extracts revealed additional bands which were absent in non-toxic species. Conclusion: It is concluded that the TLC method developed in this study can be used as a quick screen method to possibly distinguish toxic from non-toxic species, as well as in identifying the studied species.]]>Rios, J.L. and M.C. Recio,20051008084Kamboj, V.P.,2000783539Cos, P., A.J. Vlietinck, D.V. Berghe and L. Maes,2006in vitro proof-of-concept.]]>19290302Abou-El-Hamd, E.M., F.H. Mohamed-Elamir, M.F.M. Moustafa, M.A. El-Sayed and I.B. Abdel-Farid et al.,2012Euphorbia helioscopia: Chemical constituents and biological activities.]]>37890Barla, A., H. Birman, S. Kültür and S. Öksüz,2006Euphorbia helioscopia and their vasodepressor activity.]]>30325332Chaudhry, B.A., K.H. Janbaz, M. Uzair and A.S. Ejaz,2001Conyza and Euphorbia species.]]>128588Jassbi, A.R.,2006Euphorbia from Iran.]]>6719771984Krstić, G., B. Anđelković, Y.H. Choi, V. Vajs, T. Stević, V. Tešević and D. Gođevac,2016Euphorbia palusrtis latex after fungal infection.]]>1311725Yang, Z.S., G.D. Chen, Y.X. Li and J. Chen,2009Euphorbia helioscopia.]]>3122126Sytwala, S., F. GŘnther and M.F. Melzig,2015Euphorbia-A contribution to plant defense mechanism.]]>953540Vogg, G., E. Mattes, J. Rothenburger, N. Hertkorn, S. Achatz and H. Sandermann Jr.,1999Euphorbia leuconeura L.]]>51289295Villanueva, J., L.M. Quirós and S. Castañón,2015Euphorbia trigona Miller with cytotoxic activity toward human cancer cell lines.]]>22689695Carlini, C.R. and M.F. Grossi-de-Sa,20024015151539Bhandary, S.K., S.N. Kumari, V.S. Bhat, K.P. Sharmila and M.P. Bekal,2012Punica granatum peel, whole fruit and seeds.]]>23438Yusuf, A.Z., A. Zakir, Z. Shemau, M. Abdullahi and S.A. Halima,2014Paullinia pinnata Linn.]]>61016Direko, P., H. Mfengwana, S. Mashele and M. Sekhoacha,2019Spirostachys africana in MCF-7 breast cancer cell line.]]>15970977Maurya, S.K., A. Asthana, S.P. Maurya, P. Maurya and A. Maurya,201973033Upadhyay, B., K.P. Singh and A. Kumar,2010Euphorbia tirucalli L.]]>26577Trautwein, E.A. and I. Demonty,200714259266Sake, K., R. Bugude, L.V. Reddy and P.S.S.V. Khan,2013Euphorbia antiquorum L. and Euphorbia caducifolia Haines.]]>414Ashok, P.K. and K. Upadhyaya,201214550 Kolodziej, H. and A.F. Kiderlen,2005Leishmania parasitised raw 264.7 cells.]]>6620562071Lu, L., S.W. Liu, S.B. Jiang and S.G. Wu,200425213218Funatogawa, K., S. Hayashi, H. Shimomura, T. Yoshida, T. Hatano, H. Ito and Y. Hirai,2004Helicobacter pylori.]]>48251261Francisco, I.A. and M.H.P. Pinotti,200043487492Simin, N., D. Orcic, D. Cetojevic-Simin, N. Mimica-Dukic and G. Anackov et al.,2013Allium flavum L. subsp. flavum, Alliaceae).]]>54139146Chudzik, M., I. Korzonek-Szlacheta and W. Król,20152016101625Weston, L.A. and U. Mathesius,201339283297Dave, H. and L. Ledwani,2012Cassia species and their applications.]]>3291319Aniszewski, T.,2007Pages: 334Pages: 334Li, S., Q. Han, C. Qiao, J. Song, C.L. Cheng and H. Xu,20082008