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Review
. 2024 Mar 13;16(6):818.
doi: 10.3390/nu16060818.

Olive Oil Components as Novel Antioxidants in Neuroblastoma Treatment: Exploring the Therapeutic Potential of Oleuropein and Hydroxytyrosol

Marta Gonçalves  1 , Anna Aiello  2 , María Rodríguez-Pérez  3 , Giulia Accardi  2 , Emma Burgos-Ramos  3 , Paula Silva  1   4
Affiliations
Review

Olive Oil Components as Novel Antioxidants in Neuroblastoma Treatment: Exploring the Therapeutic Potential of Oleuropein and Hydroxytyrosol

Marta Gonçalves et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

In this review, we explored the therapeutic potential of oleuropein (OLE) and hydroxytyrosol (HT) in the treatment of neuroblastoma (NB). NB is an extracranial tumour that predominantly affects children aged between 17 and 18 months. Recurrence and drug resistance have emerged as the biggest challenges when treating NB, leading to a crucial need for new therapeutic approaches. Food of the Mediterranean Diet (MD) presents several health benefits, including that of cancer treatment. In this review, we emphasised olive oil since it is one of the main liquid ingredients of the MD. OLE is the principal phenolic compound that constitutes olive oil and is hydrolysed to produce HT. Considering that tumour cells produce increased amounts of reactive oxygen species, this review highlights the antioxidant properties of OLE and HT and how they could result in increased cellular antioxidant defences and reduced oxidative damage in NB cells. Moreover, we highlight that these phenolic compounds lead to apoptosis and cell cycle arrest, reduce the side effects caused by conventional treatments, and activate tumours that become dormant as a resistance mechanism. Future research should explore the effects of these compounds and other antioxidants on the treatment of NB in vivo.

Keywords: Mediterranean diet; antioxidants; hydroxytyrosol; neuroblastoma; oleuropein; olive oil; phenolic compounds.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 3
Figure 3
Metabolism of oleuropein in the stomach and intestine. Adapted from [71].
Figure 1
Figure 1
Categories of extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) polyphenols and examples with chemical structures.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Scheme of pathway alterations in neuroblastoma with favourable and unfavourable outcomes. The bolded text corresponds to the main processes affected, with the upward arrows indicating an increase and the downward arrows denoting a decrease.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Effects of oleuropein on different tumours.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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