Cancer Institute, The Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, Qingdao, Shandong, 266071, China
Cancer Institute, Qingdao University, Qingdao, Shandong, 266071, China
Curr Pharm Biotechnol. 2020;21(8):654-658. doi: 10.2174/1389201021666200212093130.
The term "vitamin P" is an old but interesting concept. Most substances in this category belong to the family of flavonoids. "Vitamin P" has also been used to define the activity of some flavonoids, including quercetin, myricetin, and rutin. According to experimental studies, the "quercetin-like natural plant flavonoids" are beneficial to the body due to their various physiological and pharmacological activities in large doses (5 μM in vitro, 50 mg/kg in mice and 100 mg/kg in rats). The physiologically achievable concentration is 10 to 100 nM, which is quite high and hard to achieve from a normal diet. Thus, the physiologic activity and mechanism of "vitamin P" are still not clear. It should be noted that the quercetin-like natural plant flavonoids are physiological co-factors of cyclooxygenases (COXs), which are the rate-limiting key enzymes of prostaglandins. These quercetin-like natural plant flavonoids can strongly stimulate prostaglandin levels at lower doses (10 nM in vitro and in 0.1 mg/kg in vivo in rats). Although these "vitamin P" substances are not original substances in the body, their physiological functions affect the body. This review is focused on the most compelling evidence regarding the physiologic role and mechanism of quercetin-like natural plant flavonoids, which may be useful in understanding the physiological functions of "vitamin P", with the goal of focusing on the role of flavonoids in human physiological health.
“维生素 P”一词是一个古老但有趣的概念。此类物质大多数属于黄酮类化合物家族。“维生素 P”也曾被用于定义某些黄酮类化合物的活性，包括槲皮素、杨梅素和芦丁。根据实验研究，“类黄酮”由于其在大剂量下具有多种生理和药理活性（体外 5μM，小鼠 50mg/kg，大鼠 100mg/kg）对人体有益。在生理上可达到的浓度为 10 到 100nM，这个浓度相当高，很难从正常饮食中获得。因此，“维生素 P”的生理活性和机制尚不清楚。需要注意的是，类黄酮是环氧化酶（COXs）的生理辅助因子，COXs 是前列腺素的限速关键酶。这些类黄酮在较低剂量下（体外 10nM，体内大鼠 0.1mg/kg）可强烈刺激前列腺素水平。虽然这些“维生素 P”物质不是体内的原始物质，但它们的生理功能会影响身体。这篇综述主要关注槲皮素类天然植物类黄酮的生理作用和机制的最有说服力的证据，这可能有助于理解“维生素 P”的生理功能，目的是关注类黄酮在人类生理健康中的作用。
