Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy, College of Pharmacy, Qassim University, Buraydah 51452, Saudi Arabia.
Department of Pharmacognosy and Medicinal Plants, Faculty of Pharmacy, Al-Azhar University, Cairo 11371, Egypt.
Int J Mol Sci. 2023 Mar 8;24(6):5171. doi: 10.3390/ijms24065171.
Halophytes and xerophytes, plants with adequate tolerance to high salinity with strong ability to survive in drought ecosystem, have been recognized for their nutritional and medicinal values owing to their comparatively higher productions of secondary metabolites, primarily the phenolics, and the flavonoids, as compared to the normal vegetation in other climatic regions. Given the consistent increases in desertification around the world, which are associated with increasing salinity, high temperature, and water scarcity, the survival of halophytes due to their secondary metabolic contents has prioritized these plant species, which have now become increasingly important for environmental protection, land reclamation, and food and animal-feed security, with their primary utility in traditional societies as sources of drugs. On the medicinal herbs front, because the fight against cancer is still ongoing, there is an urgent need for development of more efficient, safe, and novel chemotherapeutic agents, than those currently available. The current review describes these plants and their secondary-metabolite-based chemical products as promising candidates for developing newer cancer therapeutics. It further discusses the prophylactic roles of these plants, and their constituents in prevention and management of cancers, through an exploration of their phytochemical and pharmacological properties, with a view on immunomodulation. The important roles of various phenolics and structurally diverse flavonoids as major constituents of the halophytes in suppressing oxidative stress, immunomodulation, and anti-cancer effects are the subject matter of this review and these aspects are outlined in details.
盐生植物和旱生植物是指具有足够耐盐能力并能在干旱生态系统中生存的植物，由于其次生代谢产物（主要是酚类和类黄酮）的产量相对较高，比其他气候带的正常植被都要高，因此它们的营养价值和药用价值已得到认可。鉴于世界各地的荒漠化不断增加，与荒漠化相关的因素包括盐分增加、高温和水资源短缺，盐生植物由于其次生代谢物的含量而得以存活，这使得这些植物物种成为优先考虑的对象，它们现在对于环境保护、土地开垦以及粮食和动物饲料安全变得越来越重要，其在传统社会中的主要用途是作为药物来源。在药用草本植物方面，由于癌症的防治工作仍在进行中，因此迫切需要开发比现有药物更有效、更安全和更新型的化疗药物。本综述描述了这些植物及其基于次生代谢物的化学产品，它们是开发新型癌症治疗方法的有希望的候选物。进一步通过探索它们的植物化学和药理学特性，包括免疫调节作用，讨论了这些植物及其成分在预防和管理癌症方面的预防作用。各种酚类和结构多样的类黄酮作为盐生植物的主要成分，在抑制氧化应激、免疫调节和抗癌作用方面发挥着重要作用，这也是本综述的主题，并详细概述了这些方面。
