Department of Drug Sciences, Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Technology Section, University of Pavia, Via Taramelli 12, 27100 Pavia, Italy; KOLINPHARMA S.p.A., Lainate, Corso Europa 5, 20020 Lainate, Italy.
Department of Drug Sciences, Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Technology Section, University of Pavia, Via Taramelli 12, 27100 Pavia, Italy.
Semin Cancer Biol. 2017 Oct;46:119-131. doi: 10.1016/j.semcancer.2017.08.005. Epub 2017 Aug 19.
Polyphenols are secondary plant metabolites which have been studied extensively for their health-promoting properties, and which could also exert pharmacological activities ranging from anti-inflammatory effects, to cytotoxic activity against cancer cells. The main mechanism for programmed cell death is represented by apoptosis, and its dysregulation is involved in the etiopathology of cancer. As such, substances able to induce apoptosis in cancer cells could be used as new anticancer agents. The aim of this paper is to review literature data on the apoptotic effects of polyphenols and the molecular mechanisms through which they induce these effects in cancer cells. In addition, a brief summary of the new delivery forms used to increase the bioavailability, and clinical impact of polyphenols is provided. The studies reported show that many polyphenol rich plant extracts, originating from food and herbal medicine, as well as isolated polyphenols administered individually or in combination, can regulate cell apoptosis primarily through intrinsic and extrinsic mechanisms of action in in vitro conditions. Due to these promising results, the use of polyphenols in the treatment of cancer should therefore be deeply investigated. In particular, because of the low number of clinical trials, further studies are required to evaluate the anticancer activity of polyphenols in in vivo conditions.
多酚是植物次生代谢产物，因其具有促进健康的特性而被广泛研究，并且可能具有抗炎作用到对癌细胞的细胞毒性活性等药理学活性。程序性细胞死亡的主要机制是细胞凋亡，其失调与癌症的病因发病机制有关。因此，能够诱导癌细胞凋亡的物质可以用作新的抗癌药物。本文旨在综述多酚的凋亡作用及其在癌细胞中诱导这些作用的分子机制的文献数据。此外，还简要总结了用于提高多酚生物利用度和临床影响的新的给药形式。报告的研究表明，许多富含多酚的植物提取物，源自食物和草药，以及单独或联合使用的分离多酚，在体外条件下主要可以通过内在和外在的作用机制来调节细胞凋亡。由于这些有希望的结果，因此应该深入研究多酚在癌症治疗中的应用。特别是由于临床试验数量较少，因此需要进一步研究来评估多酚在体内条件下的抗癌活性。
