Abstract

The isolation and chemical characterization of plant derived compounds and its possible use for human well being requires solid and lengthy research. One of the determinants in this complex evaluation concerns the toxic potential of the studied agent. Our objective was to study the cytotoxicity of the methanolic extract latex of Euphorbia antiquorum using in vitro models namely Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells, brine shrimp and chick embryo fibroblasts. Hence, we analyzed the viability of normal cells exposed to varying concentrations of the latex in S. cerevisiae. Cytotoxicity was also tested using brine shrimp assay and LC₅₀ was calculated. The cell viability was assessed by MTT assay, SRB assay and neutral red assay using various concentrations of the latex. Our study was focused on the combined effect of etoposide, a standard chemotherapeutic drug and latex of E. antiquorum on normal cells namely chick embryo fibroblasts and apoptotic events were observed using DAPI, PI EtBr staining. Cytotoxicity assays using S. cerevisiae and Brine shrimps showed that the latex was safe at lower concentrations compared to higher dose. Latex effectively counteracted etoposide mediated cytotoxicity, implying that these extracts can be used to protect non-cancerous cells in the body against etoposide induced ill-effects during cancer treatment.

Key words: Cytotoxicity, in vitro models, LC₅₀, brineshrimp assay, Euphorbia antiquorum.