A Mini-Review of Flavone Isomers Apigenin and Genistein in Prostate Cancer Treatment

Abstract

The initial responses to standard chemotherapies among prostate cancer (PCa) patients are usually significant, while most of them will finally develop drug resistance, rendering them with limited therapies. To discover new regimens for the treatment of PCa including resistant PCa, natural products, the richest source of bioactive compounds, can serve as a library for screening and identifying promising candidates, and flavones such as apigenin and genistein have been used in lab and clinical trials for treating PCa over decades. In this mini-review, we take a look into the progress of apigenin and genistein, which are isomers, in treating PCa in the past decade. While possessing very similar structure, these two isomers can both target the same signaling pathways; they also are found to work differently in PCa cells. Given that more combinations are being developed and tested, genistein appears to be the more promising option to be approved. The anticancer efficacies of these two flavones can be confirmed by in-vitro and in-vivo studies, and their applications remain to be validated in clinical trials. Information gained in this work may provide important information for new drug development and the potential application of apigenin and genistein in treating PCa.

Pressurized natural deep eutectic solvents: An alternative approach to agro-soy by-products

“…Isoflavonoids such as daidzin and genistin, as well as flavonoid apigenin, were found in all soy parts. Such metabolites were related to potential bioactive properties against cancer and anti-inflammatory capacity ( 7 , 73 – 75 ). Moreover, bioactive isoflavonoids, such as formononetin 7-O-glucoside (ononin) and biochanin A 7-O-glucoside (astroside), were identified in at least one soy by-product.…”

Targeting Oxidative Stress and Inflammation in Intervertebral Disc Degeneration: Therapeutic Perspectives of Phytochemicals

“…Genistein is an isoflavone primarily identified in Glycine max (soybean) extract, among many other sources, such as peanuts, green peas, and legumes. Genistein reportedly prevents various diseases, such as anti-inflammatory, reducing osteoporosis, improving obesity, and anti-tumor ( Fuloria et al, 2022 ; Goh et al, 2022 ; Ji et al, 2022 ). Wang et al found that genistein can activate the Nrf2-mediated antioxidant defense system in NP cells ( Wang et al, 2019 ) and subsequently inhibit TBHP-induced apoptosis and ECM degradation.…”

The protective activity of genistein against bone and cartilage diseases

“…Similarly, the anti-cancer activity of genistein has been also comprehensively reviewed ( Hou, 2022 ). Genistein exhibits cytotoxicity to many cancers, such as breast cancer ( Pawlicka and Filip, 2022 ), prostate cancer ( Ji et al, 2022 ), liver cancer ( Zhang et al, 2019 ), and kidney cancer ( Imai-Sumida et al, 2020 ). In mammalians, isoflavones, such as genistein, can exhibit estrogen-like biological functions, due to the structural similarity between genistein and estrogen.…”