Center for Chemoprevention and Cancer Drug Development, Department of Medicine, Hematology Oncology Section, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK 73104, USA.
Curr Pharm Biotechnol. 2012 Jan;13(1):147-55. doi: 10.2174/138920112798868719.
Triterpenoids are ubiquitous in the plant kingdom. Recent evidences support the beneficial effects of naturallyoccurring triterpenoids against several types of human diseases, including various cancers. Here, we have summarized the potential of triterpenoids belonging to the lupane, oleanane, ursane, and cucurbitacin groups, and their beneficial effects based on both laboratory and clinical investigations. Anticancer potential of triterpenoids and their anti-inflammatory, anti-proliferative, and pro-apoptotic effects have been discussed both in in vitro and in vivo models. Importantly, a large number of preclinical efficacy studies using chemically-induced, as well as tumor xenograft models provided evidence that both naturally occurring and synthetic derivatives had chemopreventive and therapeutic effects. In this review, we have highlighted several studies on chemopreventive and anticancer potential of triterpenoids based on various preclinical animal models of colon, breast, prostate, and melanoma cancers. Also, we made an attempt in discussing various mechanisms by which triterpenoids regulate various transcription and growth factors, inflammatory cytokines, and intracellular signaling pathways involved in cancer cell proliferation, apoptosis and tumor angiogenesis.
三萜类化合物在植物界中广泛存在。最近的证据支持天然存在的三萜类化合物对多种人类疾病（包括各种癌症）的有益作用。在这里，我们总结了属于羽扇豆烷型、齐墩果烷型、熊果烷型和葫芦烷型的三萜类化合物的潜在作用，以及基于实验室和临床研究的它们的有益作用。三萜类化合物的抗癌潜力及其抗炎、抗增殖和促凋亡作用已在体外和体内模型中进行了讨论。重要的是，大量使用化学诱导和肿瘤异种移植模型进行的临床前功效研究提供了证据，表明天然存在的和合成衍生的三萜类化合物具有化学预防和治疗作用。在这篇综述中，我们根据结肠癌、乳腺癌、前列腺癌和黑色素瘤的各种临床前动物模型，强调了几项关于三萜类化合物的化学预防和抗癌潜力的研究。此外，我们还试图讨论三萜类化合物调节参与癌细胞增殖、凋亡和肿瘤血管生成的各种转录和生长因子、炎症细胞因子和细胞内信号通路的各种机制。
