Flavonoids, Thyroid Iodide Uptake and Thyroid Cancer—A Review

Abstract

Thyroid cancer is the most common malignant tumor of the endocrine system and the incidence has been increasing in recent years. In a great part of the differentiated carcinomas, thyrocytes are capable of uptaking iodide. In these cases, the main therapeutic approach includes thyroidectomy followed by ablative therapy with radioiodine. However, in part of the patients, the capacity to concentrate iodide is lost due to down-regulation of the sodium-iodide symporter (NIS), the protein responsible for transporting iodide into the thyrocytes. Thus, therapy with radioiodide becomes ineffective, limiting therapeutic options and reducing the life expectancy of the patient. Excessive ingestion of some flavonoids has been associated with thyroid dysfunction and goiter. Nevertheless, studies have shown that some flavonoids can be beneficial for thyroid cancer, by reducing cell proliferation and increasing cell death, besides increasing NIS mRNA levels and iodide uptake. Recent data show that the flavonoids apingenin and rutin are capable of increasing NIS function and expression in vivo. Herein we review literature data regarding the effect of flavonoids on thyroid cancer, besides the effect of these compounds on the expression and function of the sodium-iodide symporter. We will also discuss the possibility of using flavonoids as adjuvants for therapy of thyroid cancer.

Leukemia therapy by flavonoids: Future and involved mechanisms

“…Besides, flavonoid fraction extracted from natural compounds displayed substantial radioprotective effect against destruction, which is stimulated by γ-irradiation in mice (Bratkov, Shkondrov, Zdraveva, & Krasteva, 2016). Intriguingly, powerful evidence from both epidemiological and laboratory studies demonstrate that dietary intake of flavonoids is able to reduce the risk of varied cancers progression, such as prostate, breast, thyroid, lung, and ovarian cancers (Ahmed, Abd El-Hafeez, Abbas, Abdelhamid, & Abdel-Aziz, 2018; Ci, Qiao, & Han, 2016;Estevez-Sarmiento et al, 2018;Goncalves, de Freitas, & Ferreira, 2017;Guo et al, 2017; X. Xiao et al, 2018).…”

Herbal Active Ingredients: An Emerging Potential for the Prevention and Treatment of Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma

“…Some flavonoids, such as soy genistein, naringenin, phloretin, and chrysin, are structurally similar to estrogen and have little or weak estrogen-like effects [87]. ese phytoestrogens can affect not only thyroid hormone synthesis but also thyroid hormone metabolism [88][89][90]. erefore, the beneficial or adverse effects of flavonoids depend on their target tissue and their daily consumption.…”

Effects of phytochemicals on thyroid function and their possible role in thyroid disease

“…Mutations and rearrangements of genes encoding for proteins involved in the mitogen‐activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway have been most commonly found in differentiated thyroid carcinomas, such as BRAF (the gene encoding for the serine/threonine‐protein kinase B‐Raf) mutations (29–70%) and RET/PTC translocations (a truncated form of RET, a membrane tyrosine kinase protein, accounting for 13–43% of cases) described in papillary carcinomas . Both BRAF and RET/PTC alterations result in MAPK activation, but with different phenotypes, depending on the level of proliferation and cellular differentiation .…”

“…Therefore, concerns have been raised about possible endocrine, and specifically, thyroid‐disruptive properties of some foods enriched in these bioactive substances . On the other hand, recent data also suggest that plant‐derived compounds, such as the flavonoids myricetin, quercetin, apigenin, rutin, naringin, hesperidin, genistein, curcumin, and many others, could be considered as adjuvants for the treatment of thyroid cancers …”