Prenyloxycoumarins and prenyloxyfuranocoumarins (isopentenyloxy-, geranyloxy-, linear and cyclic sesquiterpenyloxy compounds and their biosynthetic derivatives) represent a family of secondary metabolites that have been considered for years just as intermediates of other coumarin-based compounds. Only in the last two decades these secondary metabolites have been recognized as interesting and valuable biologically active natural products. Up to now more than 160 compounds have been isolated from plants mainly belonging to the families of Rutaceae and Umbelliferae, comprising common edible vegetables and fruits like lemons, oranges and grapefruits. In view of the biological activity of some natural prenyloxycoumarins, very recently syntheses of structurally related analogs aimed to establish detailed structure-activity relationships have also been carried out. Many of the isolated prenyloxy- and prenyloxy-furanocoumarins and their semisynthetic derivatives were shown to exert in vitro and in vivo remarkable anti-tumoral, anti-inflammatory and anti-viral effects. The object of this review is to examine in detail the different types of prenyloxycoumarins and prenyloxyfuranocoumarins from the chemical, phytochemical and biological point of view.

Licorice, the name given to the roots and stolons of Glycyrrhiza species, has been used since ancient times as a traditional herbal remedy. Licorice contains several classes of secondary metabolites with which numerous human health benefits have been associated. Recent research suggests that licorice and its bioactive ingredients such as glycyrrhizin, glabridin, licochalcone A, licoricidin, and licorisoflavan A possess potential beneficial effects in oral diseases. This paper reviews the effects of licorice and licorice constituents on both the oral microbial pathogens and the host immune response involved in common ora-dental diseases (dental caries, periodontitis, candidiasis, and recurrent aphthous ulcers). It also summarizes results of clinical trials that investigated the potential beneficial effects of licorice and its constituents for preventing/treating oro-dental diseases.

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The results from the present study suggest that naringenin holds promise as a therapeutic agent for treating inflammatory diseases such as periodontitis.

We previously reported the chemopreventive ability of a prenyloxycoumarin auraptene in chemically induced carcinogenesis in digestive tract, liver and urinary bladder of rodents. The current study was designed to determine whether dietary feeding of auraptene and its related prenyloxycoumarin collinin can inhibit colitis-related mouse colon carcinogenesis. The experimental diets, containing the compounds at 2 dose levels (0.01 and 0.05%), were fed for 17 weeks to male CD-1 (ICR) mice that were initiated with a single intraperitoneal injection of azoxymethane (AOM, 10 mg/kg body weight) and promoted by 1% (w/v) DSS in drinking water for 7 days. Their tumor inhibitory effects were assessed at week 20 by counting the incidence and multiplicity of colonic neoplasms and the immunohistochemical expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA)-labeling index, apoptotic index, cyclooxygenase (COX)-2, inducible nitric oxide (iNOS) and nitrotyrosine in colonic epithelial malignancy. Feeding with auraptene or collinin, at both doses, significantly inhibited the occurrence of colonic adenocarcinoma. In addition, feeding with auraptene or collinin significantly lowered the positive rates of PCNA, COX-2, iNOS and nitrotyrosine in adenocarcinomas, while the treatment increased the apoptotic index in colonic malignancies. Our findings may suggest that certain prenyloxycoumarins, such as auraptene and collinin, could serve as an effective agent against colitis-related colon cancer development in rodents. ' 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.Key words: auraptene; azoxymethane; collinin; colitis-related carcinogenesis; dextran sodium sulfate Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most serious complications of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), including ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease.1 Long-term UC patients have high risk of developing CRC, when compared with the general population.2 The precise mechanisms of the IBD-related carcinogenesis process are largely unclear, although it is generally assumed that chronic inflammation influences the development of IBD-related carcinogenesis. 3Fighting IBD-related CRC as well as sporadic CRC, by cancer chemoprevention strategy, is important to reduce the risk, and thus primary prevention of CRC in IBD has recently been receiving more attention. Previous experimental and epidemiological investigations suggest that several agents, such as folic acid, 4 conjugated linoleic acid, 5 ursodeoxycholic acid, 6 5-aminosalicylic acid 7 and aspirin, may reduce the occurrence of CRC in patients with IBD. 8,9 Consistent with these data, several nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), including cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 inhibitors, suppressed the development of chemically induced colon carcinomas in rats 10 and intestinal polyps in Min mice, with a nonsense mutation of the Apc gene. 11 In addition, clinical trials demonstrated that intake of a NSAID, sulindac, causes regression of adenomas in patients with familial adenomatous polyposis. 12Epidemiological studies indicate an inverse correlation be...

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The inhibitory effects of novel prodrugs, inclusion complexes of 3-(4 0 -geranyloxy-3 0 -methoxyphenyl)-2-trans propenoic acid (GOFA) and auraptene (AUR) with b-cyclodextrin (CD), on colon carcinogenesis were investigated using an azoxymethane (AOM)/ dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) model. Male CD-1 (ICR) mice initiated with a single intraperitoneal injection of AOM (10 mg/kg body weight) were promoted by the addition of 1.5% (w/v) DSS to their drinking water for 7 days. They were then given a basal diet containing 2 dose levels (100 and 500 ppm) of GOFA/b-CD or AUR/b-CD for 15 weeks. At Week 18, the development of colonic adenocarcinoma was significantly inhibited by feeding with GOFA/b-CD at dose levels of 100 ppm (63% reduction in multiplicity, p < 0.05) and 500 ppm (83% reduction in the multiplicity, p < 0.001), when compared with the AOM/DSS group (multiplicity: 3.36 6 3.34). In addition, feeding with 100 and 500 ppm (p < 0.01) of AUR/b-CD suppressed the development of colonic adenocarcinomas. The dietary administration with GOFA/b-CD and AUR/b-CD inhibited colonic inflammation and also modulated proliferation, apoptosis and the expression of several proinflammatory cytokines, such as nuclear factor-kappaB, tumor necrosis factor-a, Stat3, NF-E2-related factor 2, interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-1b, which were induced in the adenocarcinomas. Our findings indicate that GOFA/b-CD and AUR/b-CD, especially GOFA/b-CD, are therefore able to inhibit colitis-related colon carcinogenesis by modulating inflammation, proliferation and the expression of proinflammatory cytokines in mice.There were $1 million new cases of colorectal cancer (CRC) in 2002 (9.4% of the total cancers). 1 Globally, the mortality of CRC was reported to be 655,000 deaths per year in 2005. 2 There is at least a 25-fold variation in the occurrence of CRC worldwide.1 The highest rates of incidence are in North America, Australia/New Zealand, Western Europe and Japan, especially in Japanese men.1 These large geographic differences for CRC are probably explained by differences in environmental exposures and lifestyles.There are several types of pathogenesis of CRC. 3 Among them, inflammation is linked with CRC development. 4 The risk of CRC in patients with inflammatory bowel disease inflammatory bowel disease; IL: interleukin; iNOS: inducible nitric oxide synthase; NF-jB: nuclear factor-kappaB; Nrf2: NF-E2-related factor 2; TdT: terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase; Tnf: tumor necrosis factor;