Ethanolic extracts of Euphorbia and other ethnobotanical
species as inhibitors of human tumour cell growth
L. C. WHELAN AND M. F. RYAN
Abstract
Ethanolic extracts of 20 plant species, selected from the ethnobotanical literature, were analysed for their pharmacological potential as antineoplastic agents against the HEp-2 cell line. Psoralea corylifolia and E. grandidens were the most efficacious species eliciting IC50 values of 22 μg/ml and 57 μg/ml respectively. Psoralea corylifolia, additionally tested against lung carcinoma (A549) cells gave an IC50 value of 68 μg/ml. Such data would justify a search for active compounds from this species.
Key words: antineoplastic activity, A549, HEp-2, plant extracts