Citrus flavonoids have anti-cancer activity, and their significant anti-cancer effects have been confirmed with the continuous reports of research results. There are many types of cancer involved, such as: human lymphocytic leukemia, liver cancer, breast cancer, colon cancer, pancreatic cancer, gastric cancer, etc.

Citrus flavonoids are mainly found in the outer skin of citrus fruits. Including the exocarp and capsule, citrus fruits have been commonly used as traditional Chinese medicinal materials in China for thousands of years. Research on the biological activities and anti-cancer activities of citrus flavonoids has become increasingly in-depth. Citrus flavonoids can be roughly divided into categories based on the flavonoid structure naming: flavonoid glycosides, such as naringe neohesperidin, etc.; polymethoxy flavonoids, such as Sichuan orange mandarin.

Functional effects:

In vitro tests have shown that different citrus flavonoids have good specific inhibitory effects on different cancer cells. For example: nobiletin has a good inhibitory effect on Hela cells, THP-1 cells, Colon26 cells, and S180 cells; hesperidin has a significant inhibitory effect on THP-1 cells, P388 cells, and SNIU-668 cells; it has a significant inhibitory effect on BEL-740 cells , Bcap37, SW1990, KB-3-1 cells, the inhibitory effect of isorhamnetin is better.

In vivo tests show that nobiletin can inhibit the metastasis of colon cancer in mice, inhibit the growth of S180 cells, inhibit the growth and metastasis of Lewis, and inhibit the growth of mouse melanoma B16; nobiletin and orange The combined use of hormones has a higher inhibitory rate on mouse WEHI3B (JCS) cells; hesperidin has the effect of inhibiting the carcinogens that induce lung cancer.

Research on the anti-cancer mechanism of citrus flavonoids is gradually in-depth. Currently, the main technologies used include Hoechst fluorescence detection of chromosome aggregation and the production of apoptotic bodies, flow cytometry detection of cell apoptosis, gel Electrophoresis detects DNA fragmentation, Western blot detects apoptosis regulatory proteins Bcl-2 and BAX, and detects the activity of Caspase-3.

These methods provide scientific basis for studying its mechanism of action. For example, naringin can activate Caspase-3 activity, inhibit P-glycoprotein expression, and increase cell sensitivity to drugs; nobiletin directly inhibits MEK activity, thereby inhibiting ERK phosphorylation and MMP expression, achieving anti-cancer effects; nobiletin inhibits NF-κB activity, making it unable to bind to DNA, thus inhibiting the production of RCS products.

Reference for the above content? Baidu Encyclopedia—Citrus Flavonoids