Allyl isothiocyanate as a cancer chemopreventive phytochemical

Abstract

Allyl isothiocyanate (AITC), which occurs in many common cruciferous vegetables, is widely and often frequently consumed by humans. Besides antimicrobial activity against a wide spectrum of pathogens, it showed anticancer activity in both cultured cancer cells and animal models, although the underlining mechanisms remain largely undefined. Bioavailability of AITC is extremely high, as nearly 90% of orally administered AITC is absorbed. AITC absorbed in vivo is metabolized mainly through the mercapturic acid pathway and excreted in urine. Available data suggest that urinary concentrations of AITC equivalent are at least 10 times higher than in the plasma, and tissue levels of AITC equivalent in the urinary bladder were 14-79 times higher than in other organs after oral AITC administration to rats. These findings suggest that AITC may be most effective in the bladder as a cancer chemopreventive compound. AITC at high dose levels also exhibit a low degree of cytotoxicity and genotoxicity in animal studies, but such adverse effects are unlikely in humans exposed to dietary levels of AITC. Overall, AITC exhibits many desirable attributes of a cancer chemopreventive agent, and further studies are warranted in order to elucidate its mechanism of action and to assess its protective activity in humans.

Evaluation of Seasonal Variations in the Glucosinolate Content in Leaves and Roots of Four European Horseradish (Armoracia rusticana) Landraces

“…Allyl isothiocyanate, the main breakdown product of sinigrin, has been shown to have several biological activities. Antimicrobial [Shin et al, 2004] and anticancer activity related to multimode mechanism of action [Xiao et al, 2003;Zhang et al, 2010], including the stimulation of cytoprotective protein and anti-infl ammatory activity, have been reported in the previous studies [Wagner et al, 2012]. The biological activity of horseradish has been discovered many centuries ago, and it was very often utilized for treatment purposes in the traditional medicine [Agneta et al, 2013].…”

Allyl isothiocyanate triggers G2/M phase arrest and apoptosis in human brain malignant glioma GBM 8401 cells through a mitochondria-dependent pathway

“…AITC, also known as mustard oil and existing in dietary cruciferous vegetables, is one of the common naturally occurring isothiocyanates (ITCs) (34,35). It is demonstrated that AITC promoted cell cycle arrest (36,37) and induced apoptosis (34,38) in many types of cancer cells. Therefore, AITC may have potential as dietary chemoprevention/treatment agent (34).…”

The effect of allyl isothiocyanate on RNA

“…AITC shows bactericidal and fungicidal activities as well as anticancer activity with inhibition of cell proliferation, cell cycle arrest and apoptosis induction and tumor growth inhibition (5,8).…”