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Review
. 2022;11(1):76.
doi: 10.1186/s43088-022-00256-6. Epub 2022 Jun 4.

Lignans: a versatile source of anticancer drugs

Minky Mukhija  1 , Bhuwan Chandra Joshi  2 , Partha Sarathi Bairy  3 , Anurag Bhargava  1 , Archana N Sah  2
Affiliations
Review

Lignans: a versatile source of anticancer drugs

Minky Mukhija et al. Beni Suef Univ J Basic Appl Sci. 2022.

Abstract

Background: Cancer is considered as the second deadliest disease globally. Plants have continuously offered unique secondary metabolites with remarkable biological applications. Lignans have gained great importance due to their biological activity. Previous studies revealed that the most remarkable bioactivity of lignan class of molecules is anticancer. They are derived from the oxidative dimerization of two phenylpropanoid units. This review covers the isolated anticancer lignans and their mechanistic aspects.

Main body: A bibliographic investigation was performed by analyzing the information available on anticancer lignans in the internationally accepted scientific databases including Web of Science, SciFinder, PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar. In this review we have tried to sum up the isolated anticancerous lignan, its source, active plant part, extract and various cell lines used to establish different studies. Here we have included a total number of 113 natural lignans. Many studies that mainly performed in human cell lines have reported. Very few plants have been evaluated for their in vivo anticancer activity.

Conclusion: It can be concluded that in near future the lignans may be an effective pharmacon for the treatment of cancer. Fruitful areas of future research may be in modifying natural lignans or synthesizing new lignans with structural diversity and potent pharmacological activities. Extensive studies are needed to be done highlighting the mechanism of anticancer action of explored and unexplored plants. The data will definitely attract many researchers to start further experimentation that might lead to the drugs for the cancer treatment.

Keywords: Anticancer plants; Cytotoxicity; Lignan; Podophyllotoxin.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interestsThe authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
a Global cancer cases distribution types including all age groups of females. Source: GLOBOCAN, 2020. b Global cancer cases distribution types including all age groups of males. Source: GLOBOCAN, 2020
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
a Phenylpropane unit. b Dimer of C6-C3 unit via β-β′ bonding
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Eight chemical classes of lignan molecules
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Chemical structures of anticancer isolated lignans from plants
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Chemical structures of anticancer isolated lignans from plants
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Chemical structures of anticancer isolated lignans from plants
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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