Natural products play an important role in drug discovery and many approved therapeutics as well as drug candidates have been derived from natural sources. They have been the source of most of the active ingredients of medicines. The beneficial medicinal effects of plant materials typically result from the combinations of secondary products present in the plan. These secondary metabolites const...

Numerous papillomas and two malignant tumors were elicited in 101 strain mice treated once weekly with applications of acetone extracts of latices of ten species of Euphorbia after a single dose of DMBA in acetone. Of the species tested E. ti~ucalli was the most potent. Three papillomas were seen in 40 mice treated with DMBA only and three among 100 mice treated with latices only. These results...

All records of aquatic dance flies (37 species in subfamily Clinocerinae and 10 species in subfamily Hemerodromiinae) from the territory of Greece are summarized, including previously unpublished data and data on five newly described species (Chelifera horvati Ivković & Sinclair, sp. n., Wiedemannia iphigeniae Ivković & Sinclair, sp. n., W. ljerkae Ivković & Sinclair, sp. n., W. nebulosa Ivkovi...

Immune system is the major target for development of treatment strategies to improve the management of infections. Many species of Indian medicinal plants have been reported to possess active principles with immunomodulating properties. Euphorbia hirta, a pantropic herb has been reported to be pharmacologically active. This study reports one another not widely reported property of the plant, im...

BACKGROUND Euphorbia plants are traditionally used in folk medicine for infections, inflammation, and cancer. OBJECTIVES To investigate the effects of the butanolic extracts of Euphorbia micorociadia and Euphorbia osyridea on specific transcription factors and cytokines expression of T cell subsets. METHODS Activated mouse splenocytes were cultured in the presence of non-cytotoxic concentra...

Among the many peculiar plants that characterize the arid region of southern Madagascar, one of the most interesting is Euphorbia intisy? Not only does this plant present several characteristics that make it worthy of considerable study by the theoretical botanist, but its past performance as a rubber-producing plant makes it seem possible that it may prove adaptable to American conditions. Eup...

The cytotoxic chloroform fraction of Euphorbia aellenii afforded two cycloartane type triterpenes-cycloart-25-en-3β,24-diol (1) and 24-methylene-cycloartan-3β-ol (2)-for the first time from this plant. Preparation of cycloartane derivatives, 3β, 24-O-diacetyl-cycloart-25-en as compound 3 and 3β-O-acetyl-24-methylene-cycloartan (4) were conducted by acetylating of 1 and 2, respectively. The stru...

The poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima) is a much-maligned plant which is thought by the public and some health professionals to be extremely toxic. Despite pronouncements by public health officials to the contrary, the poinsettia continues to be recognized as a poisonous plant. To determine if there was any validity to the toxicity claims, 849,575 plant exposures reported to the American Associ...