Theabrownin: a dietary nutraceutical with diverse anticancer mechanisms.

Cancer, a highly deadly disease, necessitates safe, cost-effective, and readily accessible treatments to mitigate its impact. Theabrownin (THBR), a polyphenolic pigment found in Pu-erh tea, has garnered attention for its potential benefits in memory, liver health, and inflammation control. By observing different biological activities of THBR, recently researchers have unveiled THBR's promising anticancer properties across various human cancer types. By examining existing studies, it is evident that THBR demonstrates substantial potential in inhibiting cell proliferation and reducing tumour size with minimal harm to normal cells. These effects are achieved through the modulation of key molecular markers such as Bcl-2, Bax, various Caspases, Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase cleavage (Cl-PARP), and zinc finger E box binding homeobox 1 (ZEB 1). This review aims to provide in-depth insights into THBR's role in cancer research. This review also elucidates the underlying anticancer mechanisms of THBR, offering promise as a novel anticancer drug to alleviate the global cancer burden.

Alpinetin: a Dietary Flavonoid with Diverse Anticancer Effects.

Cancer is a global burden and mechanistically complex disease with a plethora of genetic, physiological, metabolic, and environmental alterations. The development of dietary nutraceuticals into cancer chemotherapeutics has emerged as a new paradigm in cancer treatment. Alpinetin (ALPI) is a novel flavonoid component of multiple edible and medicinal plants and possesses a wide range of biological and pharmacological activities including antibacterial, anti-hemostatic, anti-oxidative, anti-hepatotoxic, stomachic, immunosuppressive, and anti-inflammatory. Recently, ALPI has been reported as a bioactive dietary nutraceutical with promising anticancer activity in various human cancers through multiple mechanisms. The purpose of this review is to compile the data on natural sources of ALPI, and its anticancer activity including cellular targets and anticancer mechanism in various human cancers. Moreover, this review will set the stage for further design and conduct pre-clinical and clinical trials to develop ALPI into a lead structure for oncological therapy.

Vitamin K: A novel cancer chemosensitizer.

Cancer incidences are growing rapidly and causing millions of deaths globally. Cancer treatment is one of the most exigent challenges. Drug resistance is a natural phenomenon and is considered one of the major obstacles in the successful treatment of cancer by chemotherapy. Combination therapy by the amalgamation of various anticancer drugs has suggested modulating tumor response by targeting various signaling pathways in a synergistic or additive manner. Vitamin K is an essential nutrient and has recently been investigated as a potential anticancer agent. The combination of vitamin K analogs, such as vitamins K1, K2, K3, and K5, with other chemotherapeutic drugs have demonstrated a safe, cost-effective, and most efficient way to overcome drug resistance and improved the outcomes of prevailing chemotherapy. Published reports have shown that vitamin K in combination therapy improved the efficacy of clinical drugs by promoting apoptosis and cell cycle arrest and overcoming drug resistance by inhibiting P-glycoprotein. In this review, we discuss the mechanism, cellular targets, and possible ways to develop vitamin K subtypes into effective cancer chemosensitizers. Finally, this review will provide a scientific basis for exploiting vitamin K as a potential agent to improve the efficacy of chemotherapeutic drugs.

Alpha Solanine: A Novel Natural Bioactive Molecule with Anticancer Effects in Multiple Human Malignancies.

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Despite improvement in existing treatment modalities and addition of new anticancer drugs in the cancer clinic, cancer associated mortalities are continuously increasing. It is therefore, necessary to explore alternative treatment options to reduce the burden of cancer. In recent years, there is growing concern toward the use of natural products for treating cancer because of their ability to target multiple signaling molecules. α-solanine is a glycolalkaloid mainly present in potato tuber and Nightshade family plants. It possesses anti-pyretic, anti-diabetic, anti-allergic, anti-inflammatory and antibiotic activities. In recent years, α-solanine has been explored for its anticancer activity and showed promising results. Among all sources, potato peel contains adequate concentration of α-solanine. Every year, a large volume of potato peel is produced as a waste or sold at low cost. So α-solanine can be proved as an effective and cheap source for cancer therapy. The aim of this review is to summarize the recent data on anticancer activity of α-solanine and discuss it as a potential lead for cancer therapy.

Epigenetic effects of in utero bisphenol A administration: Diabetogenic and atherogenic changes in mice offspring.

OBJECTIVES: Bisphenol A (BPA) that is a monomer of plastic products may possibly interfere with epigenetics and be involved in onset and progression of several diseases. This study was aimed to detect the epigenetic effects of in utero BPA exposure in mice offspring. MATERIALS AND METHODS: All experiments were performed according to the national guidelines for laboratory animals and after ethical approval. Thirty adult BALB/c female mice were divided into 3 equal groups, G1 (controls), G2 (ethanol 0.10 ml/100ml of PBS so that final concentration would be 0.01%) vehicle control and G3 (BPA 10 mg/kg). Chemicals were given twice a week throughout the pregnancy. Once delivered at term, female offspring were observed for body weight, behavior and movements. Blood glucose, serum insulin, cholesterol and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLc) were measured at 5 and 15 months postnatal. Animals were sacrificed at 15 months and pancreas, kidney, adipose tissue and uterine tissue were taken and stained with either Hematoxylin and eosin (H & E) or immunostaining and examined under light microscope. RESULTS: Offspring of group G3 revealed abnormal changes of body weight, behavior and movements. Blood glucose, serum insulin, cholesterol and HDLc were high in group G3 offspring compared to controls. H & E staining showed changes in the parenchyma of pancreas, kidneys and uterus, which were confirmed by staining with anti- islet-1, kidney-specific (Ksp) cadherin, and anti- MLH antibody. CONCLUSION: In utero exposure of BPA exerts diabetogenic and atherogenic effects with less parenchymal tissue in endocrine pancreas, kidney and uterus.