Advances on Natural Polyphenols as Anticancer Agents for Skin Cancer.

Polyphenols are one of most important phytochemicals distributing in herb plants, vegetables and fruits, which known as important anticancer agents. Given the high incidence and mortality of skin cancer, this study aimed to uncover the chemopreventive effects of polyphenols against skin cancer metastasis. Electronic databases including Scopus, PubMed, and Cochrane library were used to compile the literature from 2000 to August 2019. Only in vivo mechanistic studies with English full-texts were chosen for this review. Polyphenols were included in this study if they were administered in purified form; while total extract and fractions were excluded. Among the 8254 primarily selected papers, only a final number of 34 studies were included. The chemopreventive effects of polyphenols as anthocyanins, ellagitanins, EGCG, oleuropeindihydroxy phenyl, punicalagin, quercetin, resveratrol and theaflavin, were mainly examined in treatment of melanoma as the highly metastatic form of this cutaneous cancer. Those properties are mediated by modulation of angiogenesis, apoptosis, inflammation, metastasis, proliferation, pathways such as EGFR/MAPK, mTOR/PI3K/Akt, JAK/STAT, FAK/RTK2, PGE-2/VEGF, PGE-1/ERK/HIIF-1α, and modulation of related signals including NF-κB, P21WAF/CIP1, Bim, Bax, Bcl2, Bclx, Bim, Puma, Noxa, ILs and MMPs. Chemopreventive effects of polyphenols are mediated by several signaling pathways against skin carcinogenesis and metastasis, implying the importance of polyphenols to open up new horizons in development of anti-skin cancer therapeutic strategies.

Targeting Inflammation by Flavonoids: Novel Therapeutic Strategy for Metabolic Disorders.

A balanced metabolic profile is essential for normal human physiological activities. Disproportions in nutrition give rise to imbalances in metabolism that are associated with aberrant immune function and an elevated risk for inflammatory-associated disorders. Inflammation is a complex process, and numerous mediators affect inflammation-mediated disorders. The available clinical modalities do not effectively address the underlying diseases but rather relieve the symptoms. Therefore, novel targeted agents have the potential to normalize the metabolic system and, thus, provide meaningful therapy to the underlying disorder. In this connection, polyphenols, the well-known and extensively studied phytochemical moieties, were evaluated for their effective role in the restoration of metabolism via various mechanistic signaling pathways. The various flavonoids that we observed in this comprehensive review interfere with the metabolic events that induce inflammation. The mechanisms via which the polyphenols, in particular flavonoids, act provide a promising treatment option for inflammatory disorders. However, detailed clinical studies of such molecules are required to decide their clinical fate.

Chemical analysis techniques and investigation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in fruit, vegetables and meats and their products.

The current investigation was performed to evaluate the chemical analytical techniques for PAHs (organic, carcinogenic and mutagenic compounds) in food. It also determines the content of eight polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in frequently consumed fruit, vegetables, meats and their products. The methodology included saponification or ultrasonication, liquid-liquid extraction with solvents like n-hexane, clean-up using a silica solid phase extraction cartridge and a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry technique. A good linearity (R2 > 0.99) was achieved for the PAHs at different concentrations. Recovery results for PAHs extended from 88.75 to ∼100.00%. The limit of detection was 0.08-0.25 µg/kg and the limit of quantification was 0.24-0.75 µg/kg. The mean concentration (n = 3) of benzo[a]pyrene was not identified in fruits, was 0.05 µg/kg in vegetables, and 0.64 µg/kg in meat products. Overall concentration of the eight PAHs was 0.67 µg/kg in fruits, 0.82 µg/kg in vegetables, and 3.37 µg/kg in meat products.