Journal
PLANTA MEDICA
Volume 81, Issue 18, Pages 1670-1687Publisher
GEORG THIEME VERLAG KG
DOI: 10.1055/s-0035-1558227
Keywords
Glycyrrhiza glabra; Leguminosae; licorice; anticancer; mechanism; triterpenoids; flavonoids
Categories
Funding
- Macao Science and Technology Development Fund [074/2012/A3]
- Research Fund of University of Macau [MRG013/WYT/2013/ICMS, CPG2014-00012-ICMS, MYRG2015-00101-ICMS-QRCM]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Licorice (Gancao in Chinese) has been used worldwide as a botanical source in medicine and as a sweetening agent in food products for thousands of years. Triterpene saponins and flavonoids are its main ingredients that exhibit a variety of biological activities, including hepatoprotective, antiulcer, anti-inflammatory, antiviral and anticancer effects among others. This review attempts to summarize the current knowledge on the anticancer properties and mechanisms of the compounds isolated from licorice and obtain new insights for further research and development of licorice. A broad spectrum of in vitro and in vivo studies have recently demonstrated that the mixed extracts and purified compounds from licorice exhibit evident anticancer properties by inhibition of proliferation, induction of cell cycle arrest, apoptosis, autophagy, differentiation, suppression of metastasis, angiogenesis, and sensitization of chemotherapy or radiotherapy. A combined treatment of licorice compounds and clinical chemotherapy drugs remarkably enhances anticancer effects and reduces the side effects of chemotherapeutics. Furthermore, glycyrrhizic acid and glycyrrhetinic acid in licorice have been indicated to present obvious liver-targeting effects in targeted drug delivery systems for hepatocellular carcinoma treatment.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available