ANTINEOPLASTIC POTENTIAL OF Jatropha multifida L.

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE: Jatropha multifida Linnaeus, popularly known as flor-de-coral, flor-de-sangue, merthiolate, is a plant species of the genus Euphorbia, whose chemotaxonomic characteristic is the production of latex. Euphorbiaceae contains about 290 genera and approximately 7,500 species, dispersed across continents, mainly in tropical regions. It is popularly used to treat various conditions, such as fever, pain, infection, wounds, ulcers and various infectious skin diseases; It is used by African folklore to treat bacterial infections. Preliminary academic reports demonstrate that this species has biological therapeutic potential. The objective is to investigate in the official literature the antineoplastic therapeutic biological potential of the species Jatropha Multifida L.
MATERIAL AND METHOD: Search using the descriptors “jatropha mutifida”, and “jatropha multifida AND cancer” for each of the cited databases: PubMed, OPAS, Web of Science, BVS and Google. Reading of the abstracts was carried out, and, later, a selection of those that best suited the proposed objective was made.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Using the descriptor “jatropha multifida”, 42 articles were found in the PubMed database, no articles were found in the OPAS database, 59 articles in the Web of Science database, 41 articles in the BVS database. The studies proved the various biological activities of medicinal interest of the species, including its antineoplastic effect, which was studied and evidenced in five articles, published in the years 2009, 2011, 2014, 2018 and 2019.
The articles on antineoplastic activity were the same as those found in PubMed, Web of Science and BVS databases.
They showed in vitro cytotoxic activity for cell lines of solid malignant neoplasms such as breast cancer, lung carcinoma, uterine cancer, liver cancer, mouse neuroblastoma; and against liquid malignant neoplasm cell lines such as acute monocytic leukemia and acute promyelocytic leukemia.
After searching for the articles found, it can be said that Jatropha Multifida L. has potential antineoplastic activity. After receiving botanical certification of a specimen from Rio de Janeiro, assays will be carried out to elucidate cytotoxic activity and possible mechanism of action.