Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy (Sep 2022)
The effects of thymoquinone on pancreatic cancer: Evidence from preclinical studies
- Monica Butnariu,
- Cristina Quispe,
- Jesús Herrera-Bravo,
- Paweł Helon,
- Wirginia Kukula-Koch,
- Víctor López,
- Francisco Les,
- Cristian Valdés Vergara,
- Pedro Alarcón-Zapata,
- Barbara Alarcón-Zapata,
- Miquel Martorell,
- Marius Pentea,
- Aneta Anca Dragunescu,
- Ionel Samfira,
- Zura Yessimsiitova,
- Sevgi Durna Daştan,
- Carla Marina Salgado Castillo,
- Thomas H. Roberts,
- Javad Sharifi-Rad,
- Wojciech Koch,
- William C. Cho
Affiliations
- Monica Butnariu
- Banat’s University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine “King Michael I of Romania” from Timisoara, Romania
- Cristina Quispe
- Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Arturo Prat, Avda. Arturo Prat 2120, Iquique 1110939, Chile
- Jesús Herrera-Bravo
- Departamento de Ciencias Básicas, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Santo Tomas, Chile; Center of Molecular Biology and Pharmacogenetics, Scientific and Technological Bioresource Nucleus, Universidad de La Frontera, Temuco 4811230, Chile
- Paweł Helon
- Branch in Sandomierz, Jan Kochanowski University of Kielce, Schinzla 13a Str., 27-600, Sandomierz, Poland
- Wirginia Kukula-Koch
- Department of Pharmacognosy with Medicinal Plants Garden, Medical University of Lublin, 1 Chodźki Str., 20-093, Lublin, Poland
- Víctor López
- Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universidad San Jorge, 50830 Villanueva de Gállego, Zaragoza, Spain; Instituto Agroalimentario de Aragón-IA2 (CITA-Universidad de Zaragoza), 50059 Zaragoza, Spain
- Francisco Les
- Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universidad San Jorge, 50830 Villanueva de Gállego, Zaragoza, Spain; Instituto Agroalimentario de Aragón-IA2 (CITA-Universidad de Zaragoza), 50059 Zaragoza, Spain
- Cristian Valdés Vergara
- Centro de Investigación de Estudios Avanzados del Maule, Vicerrectoría de Investigación y Postgrado, Universidad Católica del Maule, Chile
- Pedro Alarcón-Zapata
- Clinical Biochemistry and Immunology Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Concepción, Concepción, VIII – Bio Bio Region, Chile; Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria, Universidad San Sebastián, Lientur 1457, Concepción 4080871, Chile
- Barbara Alarcón-Zapata
- Clinical Biochemistry and Immunology Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Concepción, Concepción, VIII – Bio Bio Region, Chile
- Miquel Martorell
- Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Pharmacy, and Centre for Healthy Living, University of Concepción, 4070386 Concepción, Chile; Universidad de Concepción, Unidad de Desarrollo Tecnológico, UDT, Concepción 4070386, Chile; Corresponding author at: Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Pharmacy, and Centre for Healthy Living, University of Concepción, 4070386 Concepción, Chile.
- Marius Pentea
- Banat’s University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine “King Michael I of Romania” from Timisoara, Romania
- Aneta Anca Dragunescu
- Banat’s University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine “King Michael I of Romania” from Timisoara, Romania
- Ionel Samfira
- Banat’s University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine “King Michael I of Romania” from Timisoara, Romania
- Zura Yessimsiitova
- Department of Biodiversity and Bioresource, Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, 050040, Almaty, Kazakhstan
- Sevgi Durna Daştan
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Sivas Cumhuriyet University, 58140 Sivas, Turkey; Beekeeping Development Application and Research Center, Sivas Cumhuriyet University, 58140 Sivas, Turkey
- Carla Marina Salgado Castillo
- Facultad de Medicina, Universidad del Azuay, 14-008 Cuenca, Ecuador
- Thomas H. Roberts
- Plant Breeding Institute, Sydney Institute of Agriculture, University of Sydney, NSW 2006 Australia
- Javad Sharifi-Rad
- Facultad de Medicina, Universidad del Azuay, 14-008 Cuenca, Ecuador; Corresponding authors.
- Wojciech Koch
- Department of Food and Nutrition, Medical University of Lublin, 4a Chodźki Str., 20-093 Lublin, Poland; Corresponding authors.
- William C. Cho
- Department of Clinical Oncology, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Kowloon, Hong Kong; Corresponding authors.
- Journal volume & issue
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Vol. 153
p. 113364
Abstract
Thymoquinone (TQ) is a secondary metabolite found in abundance in very few plant species including Nigella sativa L., Monarda fistulosa L., Thymus vulgaris L. and Satureja montana L. Preclinical pharmacological studies have shown that TQ has many biological activities, such as anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and anticancer. Both in vivo and in vitro experiments have shown that TQ acts as an antitumor agent by altering cell cycle progression, inhibiting cell proliferation, stimulating apoptosis, inhibiting angiogenesis, reducing metastasis and affecting autophagy. In this comprehensive study, the evidence on the pharmacological potential of TQ on pancreatic cancer is reviewed. The positive results of preclinical studies support the view that TQ can be considered as an additional therapeutic agent against pancreatic cancer. The possibilities of success for this compound in human medicine should be further explored through clinical trials.
