Unifying Mechanism for Plant Nutrients as Anticancer Agents: Electron Transfer, Reactive Oxygen Species and Oxidative Stress | Chapter 1 | Theory and Applications of Chemistry Vol. 4
Plants remain an important source of new drugs, new drug
leads for making more effective drugs in the pharmaceutical industry. Plant
based discovery resulted mainly in the development of anticancer and
anti-infective agents providing new leads to the drug industry.
The present article focuses on a unifying mode of action for
the nutrients, namely, resveratrol, epigallocatechin, polyene-ß-carotene,
polyene lycopene, piperine, curcumin, genistein, luteolin, sulforaphane and
pomegranate extract. The mechanism is based on electron transfer, reactive oxygen
species and oxidative stress, which comprises an extension of earlier reports
involving agents. Most of the compounds are precursors of electron transfer
quinones, whereas others fit into the polyene category. The nutrients are
better known as antioxidants. The dichotomy is addressed.
Author(s) Details
Peter
Kovacic
Department of Chemistry and
Biochemistry, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92182-1030, USA
Ratnasamy Somanathan
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