Department of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Government College University, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan.
Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Government College University, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan.
Sci Total Environ. 2020 Jun 20;722:137907. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.137907. Epub 2020 Mar 12.
Natural products (NPs) will continue to serve humans as matchless source of novel drug leads and an inspiration for the synthesis of non-natural drugs. As our scientific understanding of 'nature' is rapidly expanding, it would be worthwhile to illuminate the pharmacological distinctions of NPs to the scientific community and the public. Flavonoids have long fascinated scientists with their remarkable structural diversity as well as biological functions. Consequently, this review aims to shed light on the sources and pharmacological significance of a dietary isoflavone, biochanin A, which has been recently emerged as a multitargeted and multifunctional guardian of human health. Biochanin A possesses anti-inflammatory, anticancer, neuroprotective, antioxidant, anti-microbial, and hepatoprotective properties. It combats cancer development by inducing apoptosis, inhibition of metastasis and arresting cell cycle via targeting several deregulated signaling pathways of cancer. It fights inflammation by blocking the expression and activity of pro-inflammatory cytokines via modulation of NF-κB and MAPKs. Biochanin A acts as a neuroprotective agent by inhibiting microglial activation and apoptosis of neurons. As biochanin A has potential to modulate several biological networks, thus, it can be anticipated that this therapeutically potent compound might serve as a novel lead for drug development in the near future.
天然产物 (NPs) 将继续为人类提供无与伦比的新型药物先导，为非天然药物的合成提供灵感。随着我们对“自然”的科学认识迅速扩展，有必要向科学界和公众阐明 NPs 的药理学区别。黄酮类化合物因其显著的结构多样性和生物功能而长期以来一直令科学家着迷。因此，本综述旨在阐明膳食异黄酮大豆素 A 的来源和药理学意义，大豆素 A 最近已成为人类健康的多靶点多功能保护剂。大豆素 A 具有抗炎、抗癌、神经保护、抗氧化、抗菌和保肝作用。它通过靶向几种失调的癌症信号通路诱导细胞凋亡、抑制转移和阻止细胞周期来对抗癌症的发展。它通过调节 NF-κB 和 MAPKs 来阻断促炎细胞因子的表达和活性来发挥抗炎作用。大豆素 A 通过抑制小胶质细胞激活和神经元凋亡来发挥神经保护作用。由于大豆素 A 有可能调节多个生物网络，因此可以预期这种治疗有效化合物可能在不久的将来成为药物开发的新先导。
