Chemical Composition, Anti-Breast Cancer Activity and Extraction Techniques of Ent-Abietane Diterpenoids from Euphorbia fischeriana Steud

Nature's Green Potential: Anticancer Properties of Plants of the Euphorbiaceae Family

The number of cancer cases will reach 24 million in 2040, according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer. Current treatments for cancer are not effective and selective for most patients; for this reason, new anticancer drugs need to be developed and researched enough. There are potentially useful drugs for cancer isolated from plants that are being used in the clinic. Available information about phytochemistry, traditional uses, in vitro and in vivo experiments with plants, and pure compounds isolated from the Euphorbiaceae family indicates that this family of plants has the potential to develop anticancer drugs. This review examines selected species from the Euphorbiaceae family and their bioactive compounds that could have potential against different types of cancer cells. It reviews the activity of crude extracts, isolated compounds, and nanoparticles and the potential underlying mechanisms of action.

Analysis of the mechanism of action of Euphorbia fischeriana Steud on cirrhosis based on network pharmacology

This study aimed to employ network pharmacology to elucidate the mechanism by which Euphorbia fischeriana Steud (EFS) exhibits the efficacy on cirrhosis. The compounds and targets of EFS were retrieved from Traditional Chinese Medicine Integrated Database and Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform (TCMSP). Next, these compounds and targets were analyzed based on protein-protein interaction (PPI) network. Furthermore, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) signaling network was established based on KEGG database. We constructed a compound-compound target-intersection target-pathway PPI network, including 20 compounds, 19 intersection targets between compound targets and EFS targets. Among the 20 compounds, 8-Isopentenyl-kaempferol has the most targets, with 27 targets, followed by 3,4',5-Trihydroxy-7-methoxy-8-isopentenylflavone, Formononetin, Isoxanthohumol, and Isokurarinone with potential targets of 26, 22, 18, and 14, respectively. Top 5 targets are HSP90AA1, PTGS2, NOS2, MAPK14, and PPARG. KEGG pathway enrichment analysis showed that pathways such as Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, Lipid and atherosclerosis, and AGE-RAGE signaling pathway in diabetic complications were closely related to the infection and abnormal metabolism of the liver. The application of network pharmacology could identify potential targets of EFS with a low false-positive rate and provide novel insight into the mechanism of action of EFS on cirrhosis.

A Method for Improving Microbial Conversion of Diosgenin and Separation and Identification of the Product

Diosgenin, a hydrolysis product from Dioscorea plants, can be used as a precursor of steroid drugs (e.g., progesterone, testosterone, and glucocorticoid). However, traditional acid hydrolysis production wastes water and causes severe environmental pollution. The extraction of diosgenin through microbial transformation is the most green and environmentally friendly method at present. In order to improve the efficiency of the extraction of diosgenin through microbial transformation, we proposed a new method of strain mutagenesis. After mutagenesis, the response surface methodology was used to optimize the solid-state fermentation medium, thereby improving the diosgenin yield. We found that the optimal formulation was 5.5% sucrose, 0.6% NH4H2PO4, and 26.6% wheat bran. The final extraction rate of diosgenin reached 0.439% (the value of diosgenin per g. of starting plant dry material). Compared with 0.338% before optimization, it had increased 1.29 times. Furthermore, two other compounds were isolated from the fermentation products. These were identified as diosgenone (C27H41O3) and yuccagenone (C27H42O3). Traditional diosgenone is obtained through the oxidation of diosgenin with oxalic acid, but the method in this study is directly obtained from Dioscorea rhizome powder. The price of Dioscorea rhizome powder is much lower than diosgenin, thus greatly reducing the cost of obtaining diosgenone. This method provides a basis for subsequent research on other pharmacological compounds.