Cancer Chemoprevention Effects of Ginger and its Active Constituents: Potential for New Drug Discovery

2015 ◽  
Vol 43 (07) ◽  
pp. 1351-1363 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chong-Zhi Wang ◽  
Lian-Wen Qi ◽  
Chun-Su Yuan
Keyword(s):  
Drug Discovery ◽  
Cancer Chemoprevention ◽  
Lead Compound ◽  
Anticancer Activities ◽  
Anticancer Compounds ◽  
Computational Docking ◽  
Active Constituents ◽  
New Drug ◽  
Anti Cancer

Ginger is a commonly used spice and herbal medicine worldwide. Besides its extensive use as a condiment, ginger has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for the management of various medical conditions. In recent years, ginger has received wide attention due to its observed antiemetic and anticancer activities. This paper reviews the potential role of ginger and its active constituents in cancer chemoprevention. The phytochemistry, bioactivity, and molecular targets of ginger constituents, especially 6-shogaol, are discussed. The content of 6-shogaol is very low in fresh ginger, but significantly higher after steaming. With reported anti-cancer activities, 6-shogaol can be served as a lead compound for new drug discovery. The lead compound derivative synthesis, bioactivity evaluation, and computational docking provide a promising opportunity to identify novel anticancer compounds originating from ginger.

Phytochemistry and Anticancer Potential of Notoginseng

2016 ◽  
Vol 44 (01) ◽  
pp. 23-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chong-Zhi Wang ◽  
Samantha Anderson ◽  
Chun-Su Yuan
Keyword(s):  
Cancer Chemoprevention ◽  
American Ginseng ◽  
Bioactive Metabolites ◽  
Anticancer Compounds ◽  
Plant Parts ◽  
Chinese Herbal ◽  
Major Species ◽  
History Of ◽  
History Of Use

Asian ginseng, American ginseng, and notoginseng are three major species in the ginseng family. Notoginseng is a Chinese herbal medicine with a long history of use in many Oriental countries. This botanical has a distinct ginsenoside profile compared to other ginseng herbs. As a saponin-rich plant, notoginseng could be a good candidate for cancer chemoprevention. However, to date, only relatively limited anticancer studies have been conducted on notoginseng. In this paper, after reviewing its anticancer data, phytochemical isolation and analysis of notoginseng is presented in comparison with Asian ginseng and American ginseng. Over 80 dammarane saponins have been isolated and elucidated from different plant parts of notoginseng, most of them belonging to protopanaxadiol or protopanaxatriol groups. The role of the enteric microbiome in mediating notoginseng metabolism, bioavailability, and pharmacological actions are discussed. Emphasis has been placed on the identification and isolation of enteric microbiome-generated notoginseng metabolites. Future investigations should provide key insights into notoginseng’s bioactive metabolites as clinically valuable anticancer compounds.

Anti-cancer potential of some commonly used drugs

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shweta Dang ◽  
Pallavi Kumari
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Trials ◽  
Drug Discovery ◽  
Drug Repurposing ◽  
Cancer Therapeutics ◽  
In Vivo Studies ◽  
New Drug ◽  
Area Of Interest ◽  
Therapeutic Benefits ◽  
Anti Cancer

: Cancer is a global concern leading to millions of deaths every year. A declining trend in new drug discovery and development is becoming one of the major issues among the pharmaceutical, biotechnology industries, and regulatory agencies. New drug development is proven to be a very lengthy and costly process. The launch of a new drug takes 8-12 years and huge investments. The success rate in oncology therapeutics is also low due to toxicities at the pre-clinical and clinical trial levels. Many oncological drugs get rejected at a very promising stage, showing adverse reactions on healthy cells. Thus, exploring new therapeutic benefits of the existing, shelved drugs for their anti-cancerous action could result in a therapeutic approach preventing the toxicities which occur during clinical trials. Drug repurposing has the potential to overcome the challenges faced via conventional way of drug discovery and is becoming an area of interest for researchers and scientists. However, very few in vivo studies are conducted to prove the anti-cancerous activity of the drugs. Insufficient in vivo animal studies and a lack of human clinical trials are the lacunae in the field of drug repurposing. This review focuses on an aspect of drug repurposing for cancer therapeutics. Various studies that show that drugs approved for clinical indications other than cancer have shown promising anti-cancer activities. Some of the commonly used drugs like Benzodiazepines (Diazepam, Midzolam), Antidepressants (Imipramine, Clomipramine, and Citalopram), Antiepileptic (Valporic acid, Phenytoin), Antidiabetics (metformin), etc. have been reported to show potential activity against the cancerous cells.

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