OBJECTIVES: This systematic review aimed to identify, evaluate and summarise the published literature on the therapeutic roles of natural remedies in the treatment of HA to provide evidence for clinical practice.
METHODS: A systematic literature search was conducted using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). Web of Science, PubMed and Science Direct Scopus were thoroughly searched for relevant published articles from June 2007 to July 2020.
RESULTS: Ten pre-clinical and two clinical studies were eligible for inclusion in this systematic review. We identified the therapeutic roles of medicinal plants Brassica napus, Gardenia jasminoides, Gastrodia elata, Ginkgo biloba, Glycyrrhiza inflata, Paeonia lactiflora, Pueraria lobata and Rehmannia glutinosa; herbal formulations Shaoyao Gancao Tang and Zhengan Xifeng Tang; and medicinal mushroom Hericium erinaceus in the treatment of HA. In this review, we evaluated the mode of actions contributing to their therapeutic effects, including activation of the ubiquitin-proteasome system, activation of antioxidant pathways, maintenance of intracellular calcium homeostasis and regulation of chaperones. We also briefly highlighted the integral cellular signalling pathways responsible for orchestrating the mode of actions.
CONCLUSION: We reviewed the therapeutic roles of natural remedies in improving or halting the progression of HA, which warrant further study for applications into clinical practice.
Methods: Several compounds were synthesized and their molecular identity was confirmed using nuclear magnetic resonance. Potential anticancer properties were determined using cytopathogenicity assays and growth inhibition assays using cervical cancer cells (HeLa). Cells were incubated with different concentrations of compounds belonging to Benzodioxane, Naphthalene diimide, Aminophenol derivatives and Porphyrins and effects were determined. HeLa cells cytopathogenicity was determined by measuring lactate dehydrogenase release using cytotoxicity detection assay. Growth inhibition assays were performed by incubating 50% semi-confluent HeLa cells with Benzodioxane, Naphthalene diimide, Aminophenol derivatives and Porphyrin compounds and HeLa cell proliferation was observed. Growth inhibition and host cell death were compared in the presence and absence of drugs.
Results: Cytopathogenicity assays showed that the selected compounds were cytotoxic against HeLa cells, killing up to 90% of cells. Growth inhibition assays exhibited 100% growth inhibition. These effects are likely via oxidative stress, production of reactive oxygen species, changes in cytosolic and intracellular calcium/adenine nucleotide homeostasis, inhibition of ribonucleotide reductase/cyclooxygenase and/or glutathione depletion.
Conclusions: Benzodioxane, Naphthalene diimide, Aminophenol derivatives and Porphyrins exhibited potent anticancer properties. These findings are promising and should pave the way in the rationale development of anticancer drugs. Using different cancer cell lines, future studies will determine their potential as anti-tumour agents as well as their precise molecular mode of action.