Journal of Ethnopharmacology 110 (2007) 92–98 Anti-arthritic activity of a biopolymeric fraction from Euphorbia tirucalli Sarang Bani a,∗ , Anpurna Kaul a,1 , Beenish Khan a,1 , Vijay Kumar Gupta a,1 , Naresh Kumar Satti b,1 , Krishan Avtar Suri b,1 , Ghulam Nabi Qazi (Director) c,1 a Department of Pharmacology, Regional Research Laboratory, Canal Road, Jammu Tawi 180 001, J&K State, India b Natural Product Chemistry Division, Regional Research Laboratory, Jammu Tawi 180 001, India c Regional Research Laboratory, Jammu Tawi 180 001, India Received 10 November 2005; received in revised form 26 April 2006; accepted 12 September 2006 Available online 26 September 2006 Abstract The present study was undertaken to investigate the anti-arthritic activity of a biopolymeric fraction (BET) from plant Euphorbia tirucalli Boiss (Euphorbiaceae). The fraction showed dose dependent anti-arthritic activity and also showed in vivo immunomodulatory capacity being a major component in inhibiting arthritis. It caused suppression of CD4 + and CD8 + T cells, inhibition of intracellular Interleukin-2 (IL-2) and Interferon-gamma (IFN-) by flowcytometry. It inhibited vascular permeability and the migration of leucocytes at the site of the insult. The oral LD 0 in both rats and mice was more than 2000 mg/kg. © 2006 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Euphorbia tirucalli; Immunosuppressive; Arthritis; Flowcytometry; Intracellular; IL-2; IFN- 1. Introduction Modern research in the field of anti-arthritic drugs is directed towards developing potent compounds with wide availability, non-toxicity and the ability to suppress the immune response to an antigen by oral administration [oral tolerance] (Kingsley et al., 1996). With an objective to expand the therapeutic resources within the nature, we need to understand the logic that gov- erns the clinical or biological activity of various agents. The latex of Euphorbia tirucalli is used as an ointment in rheuma- tism, asthma, earache, cough and toothache in the traditional system of medicine (Wealth of India, 1952). This plant is an unarmed shrub that originated from Africa and is now widely grown as an ornamental plant in India (Caius, 1986). During the course of evaluation of anti-arthritic activity of native plants, ∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +91 191 2549051/572002/544382x252. E-mail addresses: sarangbani@rediffmail.com (S. Bani), anpurnakaul@rediffmail.com (A. Kaul), beenish786in@yahoo.com (B. Khan), vgupta rrl@yahoo.com (V.K. Gupta), nksatti@rediffmail.com (N.K. Satti), kasuri1@rediffmail.com (K.A. Suri), qazi gn@yahoo.com (G.N. Qazi). 1 Tel.: +91 191 2549051. the biopolymeric fraction of Euphorbia tirucalli was found to have significant anti-arthritic activity and was then taken up for detailed study. Number of activities of the extracts (solvent) and pure diterpene esters isolated from Euphorbia tirucalli have been reported in literature (Furstemberger, 1986; Kingdom, 1979; Fursteberger, 1977; Imai, 1987; Aya, 1991). During the current decade, interest in the biopolymeric constituents of the medici- nal plants has arisen because of the observations that therapeutic effect, in particular immune related activity, of a large number of plants is due to their biopolymeric constituent (Chihara et al., 1987). These constituents have emerged as an important class of natural products which act as biological response modifiers (BRMs) through modulation of immune system which in turn results in various therapeutic effects. 2. Methodology 2.1. Plant material Euphorbia tirucalli was collected from the campus of Regional Research Laboratory (Jammu & Kashmir State, India) and authenticated by Dr. T.N. Srivastava, Taxonomist, Regional 0378-8741/$ – see front matter © 2006 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jep.2006.09.021