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      Flavonoids: A versatile source of anticancer drugs

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          Abstract

          An exponential increase in the number of studies investigating how different components of the diet interact at the molecular and cellular level to determine the fate of a cell has been witnessed. In search for anticancer drugs compelling data from laboratories, epidemiologic investigations, and human clinical trials showed that flavonoids have important effects on cancer chemoprevention and chemotherapy. In many molecular mechanisms of action for prevention against cancer, flavonoids play a major role by interacting between different types of genes and enzymes. Many mechanisms of action have been identified, including carcinogen inactivation, antiproliferation, cell cycle arrest, induction of apoptosis, inhibition of angiogenesis, antioxidation, and reversal of multidrug resistance or a combination of these mechanisms. This review focuses on the anticancer activity of flavonoids as well as their molecular mechanisms, including the treatment of mammary and prostate cancer. This review also highlights some advanced derivatives of flavonoids, which play an important role against cancer.

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          Most cited references129

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          The effects of plant flavonoids on mammalian cells: implications for inflammation, heart disease, and cancer.

          Flavonoids are nearly ubiquitous in plants and are recognized as the pigments responsible for the colors of leaves, especially in autumn. They are rich in seeds, citrus fruits, olive oil, tea, and red wine. They are low molecular weight compounds composed of a three-ring structure with various substitutions. This basic structure is shared by tocopherols (vitamin E). Flavonoids can be subdivided according to the presence of an oxy group at position 4, a double bond between carbon atoms 2 and 3, or a hydroxyl group in position 3 of the C (middle) ring. These characteristics appear to also be required for best activity, especially antioxidant and antiproliferative, in the systems studied. The particular hydroxylation pattern of the B ring of the flavonoles increases their activities, especially in inhibition of mast cell secretion. Certain plants and spices containing flavonoids have been used for thousands of years in traditional Eastern medicine. In spite of the voluminous literature available, however, Western medicine has not yet used flavonoids therapeutically, even though their safety record is exceptional. Suggestions are made where such possibilities may be worth pursuing.
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            Polyphenols: chemistry, dietary sources, metabolism, and nutritional significance.

            Polyphenols constitute one of the most numerous and ubiquitous groups of plant metabolites and are an integral part of both human and animal diets. Ranging from simple phenolic molecules to highly polymerized compounds with molecular weights of greater than 30,000 Da, the occurrence of this complex group of substances in plant foods is extremely variable. Polyphenols traditionally have been considered antinutrients by animal nutritionists, because of the adverse effect of tannins, one type of polyphenol, on protein digestibility. However, recent interest in food phenolics has increased greatly, owing to their antioxidant capacity (free radical scavenging and metal chelating activities) and their possible beneficial implications in human health, such as in the treatment and prevention of cancer, cardiovascular disease, and other pathologies. Much of the literature refers to a single group of plant phenolics, the flavonoids. This review offers an overview of the nutritional effects of the main groups of polyphenolic compounds, including their metabolism, effects on nutrient bioavailability, and antioxidant activity, as well as a brief description of the chemistry of polyphenols and their occurrence in plant foods.
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              Cancer chemoprevention with dietary phytochemicals.

              Chemoprevention refers to the use of agents to inhibit, reverse or retard tumorigenesis. Numerous phytochemicals derived from edible plants have been reported to interfere with a specific stage of the carcinogenic process. Many mechanisms have been shown to account for the anticarcinogenic actions of dietary constituents, but attention has recently been focused on intracellular-signalling cascades as common molecular targets for various chemopreventive phytochemicals.
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                Author and article information

                Journal
                Pharmacogn Rev
                PRev
                Pharmacognosy Reviews
                Medknow Publications Pvt Ltd (India )
                0973-7847
                0976-2787
                Jan-Jun 2011
                : 5
                : 9
                : 1-12
                Affiliations
                [1] Department of Chemistry, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur-302004, Rajasthan, India
                Author notes
                Address for correspondence: Mrs. Neelu Sharma, 207, Department of Chemistry, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur-302004, Rajasthan, India. E-mail: neelu.upman@ 123456gmail.com
                Article
                PRev-5-1
                10.4103/0973-7847.79093
                3210013
                22096313
                ef22cada-5fcb-4f71-b16d-77b66621da81
                © Pharmacognosy Reviews

                This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

                History
                : 18 June 2010
                Categories
                Review Article

                Pharmacology & Pharmaceutical medicine
                mammary cancer,prostate cancer,estrogens receptor,flavonoids,apoptosis

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