Abstract
Plants of Euphorbia genus are well known for their irritant milky latex rich in bioactive terpenoids and their use in traditional medicine worldwide for treatment of several diseases, including cancer that is the second leading cause of death in the world. This research evaluates, for the first time, the major terpenoid compounds from the latex of Azorean E. azorica. Five triterpene alcohols of the euphane, lanostane and cycloartane-type skeleton (namely euphol, obtusifoliol, lanosterol, cycloartenol and 24-methylenecycloartenol) were isolated from the n-hexane fraction. In addition, the diterpene alcohol ingenol was obtained from the ether fraction following to alkaline hydrolysis, which indicates the presence of potential bioactive ingenane diterpenoid esters. Their structures were elucidated by physical, chemical and spectroscopic methods (1H NMR, 13C NMR, IR and mass spectra) and comparison with literature data. The referred triterpenols have been recently reported to possess anti-inflamatory and/ or antitumor activities. Furthermore, ingenol constitutes the core of a recently approved anticancer drug. Thus, the terpenoid composition of E. azorica latex may indicate their chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic potentials on anticancer strategies, which should be investigated.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: Biomedical Journal of Scientific & Technical Research
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
