Cargando…
Bitter Melon (Momordica Charantia), a Nutraceutical Approach for Cancer Prevention and Therapy
Cancer is the second leading cause of death worldwide. Many dietary plant products show promising anticancer effects. Bitter melon or bitter gourd (Momordica charantia) is a nutrient-rich medicinal plant cultivated in tropical and subtropical regions of many countries. Traditionally, bitter melon is...
Autores principales: | , |
---|---|
Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
MDPI
2020
|
Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7464160/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32726914 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/cancers12082064 |
_version_ | 1783577299873955840 |
---|---|
author | Sur, Subhayan Ray, Ratna B. |
author_facet | Sur, Subhayan Ray, Ratna B. |
author_sort | Sur, Subhayan |
collection | PubMed |
description | Cancer is the second leading cause of death worldwide. Many dietary plant products show promising anticancer effects. Bitter melon or bitter gourd (Momordica charantia) is a nutrient-rich medicinal plant cultivated in tropical and subtropical regions of many countries. Traditionally, bitter melon is used as a folk medicine and contains many bioactive components including triterpenoids, triterpene glycoside, phenolic acids, flavonoids, lectins, sterols and proteins that show potential anticancer activity without significant side effects. The preventive and therapeutic effects of crude extract or isolated components are studied in cell line-based models and animal models of multiple types of cancer. In the present review, we summarize recent progress in testing the cancer preventive and therapeutic activity of bitter melon with a focus on underlying molecular mechanisms. The crude extract and its components prevent many types of cancers by enhancing reactive oxygen species generation; inhibiting cancer cell cycle, cell signaling, cancer stem cells, glucose and lipid metabolism, invasion, metastasis, hypoxia, and angiogenesis; inducing apoptosis and autophagy cell death, and enhancing the immune defense. Thus, bitter melon may serve as a promising cancer preventive and therapeutic agent. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-7464160 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2020 |
publisher | MDPI |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-74641602020-09-04 Bitter Melon (Momordica Charantia), a Nutraceutical Approach for Cancer Prevention and Therapy Sur, Subhayan Ray, Ratna B. Cancers (Basel) Review Cancer is the second leading cause of death worldwide. Many dietary plant products show promising anticancer effects. Bitter melon or bitter gourd (Momordica charantia) is a nutrient-rich medicinal plant cultivated in tropical and subtropical regions of many countries. Traditionally, bitter melon is used as a folk medicine and contains many bioactive components including triterpenoids, triterpene glycoside, phenolic acids, flavonoids, lectins, sterols and proteins that show potential anticancer activity without significant side effects. The preventive and therapeutic effects of crude extract or isolated components are studied in cell line-based models and animal models of multiple types of cancer. In the present review, we summarize recent progress in testing the cancer preventive and therapeutic activity of bitter melon with a focus on underlying molecular mechanisms. The crude extract and its components prevent many types of cancers by enhancing reactive oxygen species generation; inhibiting cancer cell cycle, cell signaling, cancer stem cells, glucose and lipid metabolism, invasion, metastasis, hypoxia, and angiogenesis; inducing apoptosis and autophagy cell death, and enhancing the immune defense. Thus, bitter melon may serve as a promising cancer preventive and therapeutic agent. MDPI 2020-07-27 /pmc/articles/PMC7464160/ /pubmed/32726914 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/cancers12082064 Text en © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
spellingShingle | Review Sur, Subhayan Ray, Ratna B. Bitter Melon (Momordica Charantia), a Nutraceutical Approach for Cancer Prevention and Therapy |
title | Bitter Melon (Momordica Charantia), a Nutraceutical Approach for Cancer Prevention and Therapy |
title_full | Bitter Melon (Momordica Charantia), a Nutraceutical Approach for Cancer Prevention and Therapy |
title_fullStr | Bitter Melon (Momordica Charantia), a Nutraceutical Approach for Cancer Prevention and Therapy |
title_full_unstemmed | Bitter Melon (Momordica Charantia), a Nutraceutical Approach for Cancer Prevention and Therapy |
title_short | Bitter Melon (Momordica Charantia), a Nutraceutical Approach for Cancer Prevention and Therapy |
title_sort | bitter melon (momordica charantia), a nutraceutical approach for cancer prevention and therapy |
topic | Review |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7464160/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32726914 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/cancers12082064 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT sursubhayan bittermelonmomordicacharantiaanutraceuticalapproachforcancerpreventionandtherapy AT rayratnab bittermelonmomordicacharantiaanutraceuticalapproachforcancerpreventionandtherapy |