Ferns and Lycopods—A Potential Treasury of Anticancer Agents but Also a Carcinogenic Hazard

Abstract

Many species of seedless vascular plants-ferns and lycopods-have been used as food and folk medicine since ancient times. Some of them have become the focus of intensive research concerning their anticancer properties. Studies on the anticancer effect of crude extracts are being increasingly replaced by bioactivity-guided fractionation, as well as detailed assessment of the mechanism of action. Numerous compounds-especially flavonoids such as amentoflavone and protoapigenone, and also simpler phenolic compounds, steroids, alkaloids and terpenoids-were isolated and found to be cytotoxic, particularly pro-apoptotic, or to induce cell cycle arrest in cancer cell lines in vitro. In in vivo experiments, some fern-derived compounds inhibited tumour growth with little toxicity. On the other hand, many ferns-not only the well-known Bracken (Pteridium)-may pose a significant hazard to human health due to the fact that they contain carcinogenic sesquiterpenoids and their analogues. The objective of this review is to summarise the recent state of research on the anticancer properties of ferns and lycopods, with a focus on their characteristic bioactive constituents. The carcinogenic hazard posed by ferns is also mentioned.

Phytochemicals from fern species: potential for medicine applications

“…ex Griff.) Kuhn and M. substrigosa Tagawa (Tomšík 2014). In addition, Phytochem Rev (2017) 16:379-440 411 bimutipterosins A and B, isolated from Pteris multifida, exhibited cytotoxicity against the HL 60 human leukemia cell line (Liu et al 2011a, b, c).…”

“…In addition to ent-11α-hydroxy-15-oxo-kaur-16en-19-oic-acid, 7,9-dihydroxy-15-oxo-ent-kaur-16en-19,6-olide and 7,11-dihydroxy-15-oxo-ent-kaur-16-en-19,6-olide from P. semipinnata can inhibit lung adenocarcinoma cells by acting as inhibitors of DNA topoisomerases (TOPO) and tyrosine protein kinase (TPK) (Tomšík 2014). 7,9-Dihydroxy-15-oxoent-kaur-16-en-19,6-olide inhibited TOPO II at a concentration of 0.01 mg/L, while 7,11-dihydroxy-15-oxo-ent-kaur-16-en-19,6-olide was a moderately potent inhibitor of membrane TPK and also reduced the expression of the oncogene c-myc (Li et al 2001).…”

Polypodium vulgare L.: Polyphenolic Profile, Cytotoxicity and Cytoprotective Properties in Different Cell Lines

“…The possible use of natural fern extracts for anticancer therapy, as the case of some Asiatic fern species, has been demonstrated by the cytotoxic, pro-apoptotic or cell cyclearresting effects of non-characterized plant extracts [62]. In our case, no relevant cytotoxic effects have been reported for the extract in the different cell lines, except in the case of the HaCaT cells, but only at the highest concentrations assayed.…”

Chemical Composition and Cytoprotective Activities of Methanolic Extract of Asplenium adiantum-nigrum L. (Aspleniaceae)

“…Taken together, these studies indicate that the fronds of Polypodiaceae are important reservoirs of polyphenols and related compounds. Therefore, ferns are considered important sources of phytochemical diversity, such as flavonoids [32,36]. The Aspleniaceae family, besides being a source of phenolic acids, is also regarded as a source of flavonols, one of the types of flavonoids [37].…”