Annihilating efficacy of euphorbia hirta l. Extracts on artemia salina nauplii and human breast adenocarcinoma cells (mcf-7 & mda-mb-231)

Abstract

Cancer is a leading cause of death both in developed and developing countries. Recently the secondary metabolites produced by plants are being investigated due to their promising anticancer activities. Accordingly, in the current study the anti-cancer potentials of Euphorbia hirta L., a renowned medicinal plant was explored for its anticancer activity. The methanol and aqueous extracts of Euphorbia hirta L. (EHA and EHM) were tested for their toxicity against Artemia salina nauplii, and for cytotoxic potentials in MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 human breast adenocarcinoma cell lines. Both the extracts EHA and EHM showed maximum toxicity towards Artemia salina among which the methanol extract was able to annihilate all the nauplii in its highest concentration. Excitingly, Euphorbia hirta L. extracts exhibited potent cytotoxicity selectively against human breast cancer cells (MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7) than in normal cells (VERO). In conclusion, the results suggest that EHM extract of the selected plant might possess beneficial ingredients to treat human breast cancers especially against ER-positive breast cancer.