POTENCIAL CITOTÓXICO DE FRAÇÕES E SUBFRAÇÕES DO LÁTEX DA EUPHORBIA UMBELLATA EM CÉLULAS DE HEPATOCARCINOMA

Abstract

Recent studies have demonstrated the cytotoxic effects of Euphorbia umbellata’s latex on several tumor cell lines. However, assays with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) strains have not yet been performed. Thus, the present work aimed to evaluate the antitumor potential of the hexane fraction (Hex), and its subfractions methanol (MeOH), dichloro (Cl2), ether and ethanol (EtOH), extracted from the latex of E. umbellata using HCC models. The cytotoxicity of this fraction and its subfractions were evaluated in hepatocarcinoma tumor cells Hepa1c1c7 and normal FN1 with MTT colorimetric assay. The concentrations tested were 10 μg - 150 μg/well, for a period of 24 and 48 hours. Subsequently, the mitochondrial electrical potential of the treated cells was evaluated by laser confocal microscopy. The results obtained in the present work demonstrated that the Hex fraction of E. umbellata presented cytotoxicity in Hepa1c1c7 cells. However, FN1 cells also showed sensitivity to Hex fraction. Our results also showed that the Hepa1c1c7 and normal FN1 tumor cells presented high sensitivity to the EtOH and Cl2 subfractions, in similar proportions. In contrast, the ether and MeOH subfractions induced cytotoxicity in Hepa1c1c7 cell lines, with low cytotoxic activity in FN1 cells. In addition, the MeOH subfraction reduced the ΔΨm of hepa1c1c7 cells, without inducing changes in FN1 cells. In this context, our results suggest that the cytotoxicity of the MeOH subfraction in Hepa1c1c7 cells occurs due to modulation of the apoptotic pathway. Thus, the set of results demonstrated that the MeOH subfraction presents potential for the treatment of HCC in vitro.