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Glucosinolates in cancer prevention and treatment: experimental and clinical evidence

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Abstract

Glucosinolates are naturally occurring β-d-thioglucosides that mainly exist in the Brassicaceae family. The enzyme myrosinase hydrolyzes glucosinolates to form isothiocyanates, which are chemical protectors. Phenethyl isothiocyanate, sulforaphane, and benzyl isothiocyanate are potential isothiocyanate with efficient anti-cancer effects as a protective or treatment agent. Glucosinolate metabolites exert the cancer-preventive activity through different mechanisms, including induction of the Nrf2 transcription factor, inhibition of expression of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFα) and interleukin-1β (IL-1β), induction of apoptosis through inhibiting phase I enzymes and inducting phase II enzymes, interruption of caspase pathways, STAT1/STAT2, inhibition of sulfotransferases. Moreover, glucosinolates and their metabolites are effective in cancer treatment by inhibiting angiogenesis, upregulating natural killers, increasing expression of p53, p21, caspase 3 and 9, and modulating NF-κB. Despite the mentioned cancer-preventing effects, some isothiocyanates can increase the risk of tumors. So, further studies are needed to obtain an accurate and effective dose for each glucosinolates to treat different types of tumors.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Notes

  1. Antioxidant Response Element.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Traditional Pharmacy, School of Persian Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, 1417653761, Iran

    Neda Orouji, Zahra Taghipour & Roja Rahimi

  2. Deputy of Education, Ministry of Health and Medical Education, Tehran, Iran

    Siamak Kazemi Asl

  3. Pharmacognosy Research Laboratories and Herbal Analysis Services UK, University of Greenwich, Chatham-Maritime, Kent, ME4 4TB, UK

    Solomon Habtemariam & Seyed Mohammad Nabavi

  4. Applied Biotechnology Research Center, Baqiyatallah University Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Solomon Habtemariam & Seyed Mohammad Nabavi

  5. Division of Translational Medicine, Baqiyatallah Hospital, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Seyed Mohammad Nabavi

  6. PhytoPharmacology Interest Group (PPIG), Universal Scientific Education and Research Network (USERN), Tehran, Iran

    Roja Rahimi

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  1. Neda Orouji
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  2. Siamak Kazemi Asl
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  3. Zahra Taghipour
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  4. Solomon Habtemariam
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  5. Seyed Mohammad Nabavi
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  6. Roja Rahimi
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Contributions

NO and ZT contributed to the literature search, data extraction, and manuscript drafting. SH contributed to revising the draft. SMN and RR contributed to the work's conception and design and revising the draft.

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Correspondence to Roja Rahimi.

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Orouji, N., Asl, S.K., Taghipour, Z. et al. Glucosinolates in cancer prevention and treatment: experimental and clinical evidence. Med Oncol 40, 344 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12032-023-02211-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12032-023-02211-6

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