Lignans from Euphorbia hirta L

Area of Science:

• Natural Product Chemistry
• Medicinal Plant Research
• Cancer Biology

Background:

• Euphorbia hirta L. is a medicinal plant with a history of traditional use.
• Lignans are a class of natural compounds with diverse biological activities.
• The chemical constituents and anticancer potential of E. hirta warrant further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To isolate and characterize new and known lignans from Euphorbia hirta.
• To evaluate the cytotoxic effects of the isolated compounds against selected cancer cell lines.

Main Methods:

• Isolation of compounds using chromatographic techniques.
• Structure elucidation using extensive spectroscopic analyses (1D/2D NMR, HR-ESI-MS).
• Determination of absolute configuration using Electronic Circular Dichroism (ECD) calculations.
• In vitro antiproliferative assays against Hep G2, A549, and DU145 cancer cell lines.

Main Results:

• Five new lignans (euphorhirtins A-D and 5-methoxyvirgatusin) and three artefacts were identified.
• Thirteen known lignans were also isolated and characterized.
• Compounds 14 and 18 exhibited significant inhibitory activity against Hep G2 cells, with IC50 values of 7.2 ± 0.17 μM and 8.5 ± 0.36 μM, respectively.

Conclusions:

• The study successfully identified novel lignan structures from Euphorbia hirta.
• Specific lignans from E. hirta demonstrate promising cytotoxic effects against hepatocellular carcinoma (Hep G2) cells.
• These findings support the potential of Euphorbia hirta as a source for anticancer drug discovery.