Antitumor Effect and Mechanism of Rutin： A Review / 中国实验方剂学杂志

ABSTRACT

The morbidity and mortality of cancer have been on the rise， making it atop the list of human health threats. It has been a conundrum of global magnitude. As the side effects of chemotherapeutics seriously affect the life quality of cancer patients， it is urgent to find effective anti-cancer drugs with small toxic and side effects. In recent years， the anti-cancer effects of traditional Chinese medicine have attracted the interest of scholars. Owing to the improvement of medical research， an increasing number of anti-cancer components with small toxic and side effects have been extracted from traditional Chinese medicine. Rutin， a unique flavonoid in Chinese medicinals and many plants， proves to inhibit the proliferation of breast cancer， colon cancer， lung cancer， and prostate cancer cells. In addition， rutin alone or in combination with other therapeutic drugs can regulate a variety of signaling pathways and signal mediators of inflammation， apoptosis， autophagy， and angiogenesis， thereby suppressing tumor progression. Moreover， it can also alleviate the drug resistance of tumors and the side effect of chemotherapeutics. Nevertheless， it is limited by the low bioavailability and low solubility， to which nano delivery system turns to be a solution. At the moment， the anti-cancer potential of rutin and the molecular targets of it against various cancers have not been summarized and comprehensively analyzed. Therefore， the authors retrieved articles on the anti-cancer effects of rutin in recent years， summed up the mechanisms and molecular targets， and discussed relevant drug delivery systems and the safety， aiming at laying a theoretical foundation for further development and application of the flavonoid.