ABSTRACT
Polyphenols comprise a number of natural substances, such as flavonoids, that show interesting biological effects. Among these substances is naringin, a naturally occurring flavanone glycoside found in citrus fruits and Chinese medicinal herbs. Several studies have shown that naringin has numerous biological properties, including cardioprotective, cholesterol-lowering, anti-Alzheimer's, nephroprotective, antiageing, antihyperglycemic, antiosteoporotic and gastroprotective, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antiapoptotic, anticancer and antiulcer effects. Despite its multiple benefits, the clinical application of naringin is severely restricted due to its susceptibility to oxidation, poor water solubility, and dissolution rate. In addition, naringin shows instability at acidic pH, is enzymatically metabolized by ß-glycosidase in the stomach and is degraded in the bloodstream when administered intravenously. These limitations, however, have been overcome thanks to the development of naringin nanoformulations. This review summarizes recent research carried out on strategies designed to improve naringin's bioactivity for potential therapeutic applications.
ABSTRACT
In this study, we tested the antiproliferative effects of mannan from Aloe saponaria using normal murine (SpMC) and human cells (PBMC) and several tumoral cell lines. Employing flow cytometry, it could be determined that mannan inhibits the proliferative response in normal and tumoral cells. Mannan affects the expression of CD3(+) SpMC indicating that mannan inhibits mainly T lymphocyte proliferative response. Also in SpMC cultured with or without mitogen mannan produces an increase of an activation marker (CD25). On C1498 cell line, mannan reduces CD3 expression and abolishes the CD25 expression. In conclusion, mannan has a dual beneficial effect when applied to normal and tumoral cells at the same time by inhibiting the activation of cancer cells and improving that of normal ones.