“Cancer” is a disease that affects all human beings. According to statistics, in 2020, there will be 19.29 million new cases of cancer and 9.96 million deaths in the world. Although scientists continue to improve cancer treatment methods, most of them will cause damage to healthy cells or produce Severe side effects, and scientists have recently discovered that it is “glycoalkaloids” that have the potential to treat cancer.
“Glycoalkaloids” are naturally occurring compounds found in many plants, especially those from the nightshade family, which includes plants such as potatoes, tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers. Although “glycoalkaloids” are toxic, they are As long as the separation and purification technology research is carried out, it can be turned into a safe anticancer drug.
A research team led by Magdalena Winkiel, a professor at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poland, recently published a study in “Frontiers In Pharmacology” (Frontiers of Pharmacology), which has found in common vegetables such as tomatoes and potatoes Glycoalkaloids have the potential to treat cancer.
Winkil said that scientists all over the world are looking for drugs that are lethal to cancer cells but safe for healthy cells. Despite the advancement of medicine and the continuous development of modern treatment technologies, it is still not easy. This is why scientists look back to the past Medicinal plants to treat various diseases and revisit the properties of medicinal plants in order to rediscover their therapeutic potential.
poison medicine
Winkle’s research team focused on five “glycoalkaloids”, including solanine, α-chaconine, solasonine, solamargine and tomatine ( tomatine), present in the extracts of Solanaceae plants.
“Glycoalkaloids” are found in many popular food plants, and most are toxic because plants produce “glycoalkaloids” to defend against plant-eating animals, but the correct dosage can turn poison into medicine , Once scientists find the safe dosage of “glycoalkaloids”, it can become a powerful clinical tool.
“Glycoalkaloids” can inhibit cancer cell growth and may promote cancer cell death. These are key target areas for controlling cancer and improving patient outcomes, so they have great potential in future treatments. According to computer simulation studies, ” Glycoalkaloids are not toxic and do not damage DNA or cause future risk of tumor recurrence, but may have some effects on the reproductive system.
Finding the cure from tomatoes
The research team used in vitro and model animal studies to determine which glycoalkaloids were safe and promising enough to test in humans, such as potato glycoalkaloids such as solanine and chaconine , but the amount of these substances in the potato depends on the variety of potato, as well as the light and temperature conditions to which the potato is exposed.
The research team found that solanine can prevent some potential carcinogenic chemicals from being converted into carcinogenic substances in the body and inhibit metastasis, especially research on specific types of leukemia cells has shown that solanine can kill cancer cells at the correct therapeutic dose, while cardamom Solanine has anti-inflammatory properties and has the potential to treat sepsis.
As for solanine, which is mainly found in eggplant, it can prevent the proliferation of liver cancer cells. It can be used as one of several glycoalkaloids that are important for treatment and can target cancer stem cells. It is considered to be in cancer drug resistance. plays an important role, while solanine, found in several plants of the nightshade family, is also thought to attack cancer stem cells by targeting the same pathway.
Tomatine in tomatoes supports the body’s regulation of the cell cycle, which can kill cancer cells, but the research team believes that further research is needed to determine how best to translate this in vitro potential into practical medicine, and carefully examine All potential safety concerns before patients can directly benefit from vegetable-derived anticancer drugs.
(Source of the first picture:pixabay）
