Osthole: An up-to-date review of its anticancer potential and mechanisms of action

Abstract

With its high incidence and mortality rates, cancer is one of the largest health problems worldwide. Investigating various cancer treatment options has been the focus of many domestic and international researchers, and significant progress has been made in the study of the anticancer effects of traditional Chinese medicines. Osthole, a coumarin compound extracted from Cnidium monnieri (L.) Cuss., has become a new research hotspot. There have been many reports on its anticancer effects, and recent studies have elucidated that its underlying mechanism of action mainly involves inhibiting cancer cell proliferation, inducing cancer cell apoptosis, inhibiting invasion and migration of cancer cells, inhibiting cancer angiogenesis, increasing sensitivity to chemotherapy drugs, and reversing multidrug resistance of cancer cells. This mini-review summarizes the research progress on the anticancer effects of osthole in recent years.

Photoredox-catalyzed direct C–H monofluoromethylation of heteroarenes

“…5 Osthol is a coumarin-based natural product, found to have potent biological and pharmacological roles particularly an inhibitory effect on several types of cancer. 35 Therefore, we evaluated the compound 7h against four tumor cell lines and compared the result with that of a parent compound, Osthol. The results of the cytotoxicity assay are summarized in Table 6.…”

Natural Coumarin Derivatives Activating Nrf2 Signaling Pathway as Lead Compounds for the Design and Synthesis of Intestinal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs

“…Benth. Osthole displays a lot of pharmacological properties, mainly acting as a neuroprotective, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, antioxidant, and hepatoprotective agent [101,102]. Intestinal anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties of osthole were evidenced by in vitro and in vivo assays suggesting its potential use to control and prevent IBD [15].…”

Anti-Cancer Potential of Phytochemicals: The Regulation of the Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition

“…Some terpenoids were reported to modulate the EMT process with only a few documents, such as β-carotene (27), lutein (28), and taraxasterol (29). β-Carotene is a tetraterpenoid widely present in fruits and vegetables with some health-beneficial effects.…”

“…This compound has been shown to induce a range of beneficial bioactivities, including anti-cancer, anti-epileptic, and anti-inflammatory properties [ 28 ]. In terms of the anti-cancer effects of osthole, it could inhibit proliferation, induce apoptosis, avoid invasion and migration, prevent angiogenesis, and increase chemosensitivity [ 29 ]. The current research on osthole indicates that its anti-cancer effects in renal carcinoma cells, brain cancer cells, and liver cancer cells are involved with EMT suppression.…”