Phytonutrients are plant foods that contain many natural bioactive compounds, called phytochemicals, which show specific biological activities. These phytonutrients and their phytochemicals may play an important role in health care maintaining normal organism functions (as preventives) and fighting against diseases (as therapeutics). Phytonutrients’ components are the primary metabolites (i.e., proteins, carbohydrates, and lipids) and phytochemicals or secondary metabolites (i.e., phenolics, alkaloids, organosulfides, and terpenes). For years, several phytonutrients and their phytochemicals have demonstrated specific pharmacological and therapeutic effects in human health such as anticancer, antioxidant, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antifungal, and immune response. This review summarizes the effects of the most studied or the most popular phytonutrients (i.e., turmeric, garlic, cinnamon, graviola, and oregano) and any reported contraindications. This article also presents the calculated physicochemical properties of the main phytochemicals in the selected phytonutrients using Lipinski’s, Veber’s, and Ghose’s rules. Based on our revisions for this article, all these phytonutrients have consistently shown great potential as preventives and therapeutics on many diseases in vitro, in vivo, and clinical studies.

Recently, there has been great interest in plant-derived compounds known as phytochemicals. The pentacyclic oleanane-, ursane-, and lupane-type triterpenes are phytochemicals that exert significant activity against diseases like cancer. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. Although chemotherapy is the treatment of choice for lung cancer, its effectiveness is hampered by the dose-limiting toxic effects and chemoresistance. Herein, we investigated six pentacyclic triterpenes, oleanolic acid, ursolic acid, asiatic acid, betulinic acid, betulin, and lupeol, on NSCLC A549 cells. These triterpenes have several structural variations that can influence the activation/inactivation of key cellular pathways. From our results, we determined that most of these triterpenes induced apoptosis, S-phase and G2/M-phase cycle arrest, the downregulation of ribonucleotide reductase (RR), reactive oxygen species, and caspase 3 activation. For chemoresistance markers, we found that most triterpenes downregulated the expression of MAPK/PI3K, STAT3, and PDL1. In contrast, UrA and AsA also induced DNA damage and autophagy. Then, we theoretically determined other possible molecular targets of these triterpenes using the online database ChEMBL. The results showed that even slight structural changes in these triterpenes can influence the cellular response. This study opens up promising perspectives for further research on the pharmaceutical role of phytochemical triterpenoids.

Clinically approved iron chelators, originally designed to address iron overload disorders, have emerged as potential anticancer agents. Deferasirox (Def), a tridentate iron chelator, has demonstrated antiproliferative effects in cancer. Background/Objectives: This study aims to elucidate the mechanism of action of Def and its impact on non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC). Methods: NSCLC A549 cells were treated with Def to assess cytotoxicity, the effect on nuclear and mitochondrial pathways, and iron-containing proteins and genes to evaluate anti-metastasis and chemoresistance. A lung carcinoma mouse model was used for in vivo studies. Results: Our findings revealed that Def induced cytotoxicity, effectively chelated intracellular iron, and triggered apoptosis through the increase in phosphatidylserine externalization and caspase 3 activity. Additionally, Def caused G0/G1 cell cycle arrest by downregulating the ribonucleotide reductase catalytic subunit. Furthermore, Def perturbed mitochondrial function by promoting the production of reactive oxygen species and the inhibition of glutathione as a measurement of ferroptosis activation. Def demonstrated inhibitory effects on cell migration in scratch assays, which was supported by the upregulation of n-myc downstream-regulated gene 1 and downregulation of the epidermal growth factor receptor protein. Also, Def downregulated one of the main markers of chemoresistance, the ABCB1 gene. In vivo experiments using a lung carcinoma mouse model showed that Def treatment did not affect the animal’s body weight and showed a significant decrease in tumor growth. Conclusions: This investigation lays the groundwork for unraveling Def action’s molecular targets and mechanisms in lung carcinoma, particularly within iron-related pathways, pointing out its anti-metastasis and anti-chemoresistance effect.

In recent times, a great interest has been motivated in plant-derived compounds known as phytochemicals. The pentacyclic oleanane-, ursane-, lupane-type triterpenes are phytochemicals that exert significant activities against diseases like cancer. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. Although chemotherapy is the treatment of choice for lung cancer, its effectiveness is hampered by the dose‐limiting toxic effects and chemoresistance. Herein, we investigated the structure-activity relationship of six pentacyclic triterpenes: oleanolic acid (OleA), ursolic acid (UrA), asiatic acid (AsA), betulinic acid (BeA), betulin (Betu), lupeol (Lupe), on NSCLC A549 cells. From our studies, we confirmed that all these triterpenes showed cytotoxicity in the mid µM range, where BeA showed the strongest effect. Then, we determined that most of these triterpenes induced S-phase and G2/M phase cycle arrest, reactive oxygen species, mitochondrial depolarization, and caspase 3 activation. For chemoresistance markers, we elucidated that most triterpenes downregulated STAT3 and PDL1 genes. In contrast, ursane-type UrA and AsA also induced DNA damage, reactive nitrogen species and autophagy. These results showed that even slight structural changes in these triterpenes can influence the cellular response and mechanistic pathways. This study opens promising perspectives for further research on the pharmaceutical role of phytochemical triterpenoids.

Metastasis remains a major challenge in cancer treatment because of the lack of effective targeted therapies. MBQ-167, a first-in-class dual Rac/Cdc42 inhibitor currently in a phase I clinical trial, has demonstrated promising activity in preclinical breast cancer models by reducing tumor burden and preventing metastasis. To characterize its metabolism, we conducted liver microsome assays and identified several MBQ-167 metabolites. Of these, M6 was the primary metabolite from dog and human plasma following oral administration of MBQ-167. The M6cpharmacokinetics profile parallels that of MBQ-167 in human plasma from patients with advanced breast cancer enrolled in the clinical trial. In metastatic breast cancer cell lines (HER2-BM, MDA-MB-231, and MDA-MB-468), M6 exhibited minimal effects on cell viability and apoptosis but strongly inhibited Rac1 activation without affecting Cdc42 activation. M6 also inhibited phosphorylation of group 1 p21-activated kinases (PAK) more effectively than MBQ-167 and significantly reduced breast cancer cell migration in wound healing and Transwell assays. In vivo studies with immunocompromised mice bearing HER2-BM tumors demonstrated that M6 inhibits tumor growth and metastasis to the lungs, livers, and kidneys by ∼90%, comparable with MBQ-167. These findings suggest that M6 exhibits potent anticancer properties both in vitro and in vivo, potentially contributing to the sustained efficacy of MBQ-167 in metastatic breast cancer.

Metastasis remains a major challenge in cancer treatment because of the lack of effective targeted therapies. MBQ-167, a first-in-class dual Rac/Cdc42 inhibitor currently in a phase I clinical trial, has demonstrated promising activity in preclinical breast cancer models by reducing tumor burden and preventing metastasis. To characterize its metabolism, we conducted liver microsome assays and identified several MBQ-167 metabolites. Of these, M6 was the primary metabolite from dog and human plasma following oral administration of MBQ-167. The M6cpharmacokinetics profile parallels that of MBQ-167 in human plasma from patients with advanced breast cancer enrolled in the clinical trial. In metastatic breast cancer cell lines (HER2-BM, MDA-MB-231, and MDA-MB-468), M6 exhibited minimal effects on cell viability and apoptosis but strongly inhibited Rac1 activation without affecting Cdc42 activation. M6 also inhibited phosphorylation of group 1 p21-activated kinases (PAK) more effectively than MBQ-167 and significantly reduced breast cancer cell migration in wound healing and Transwell assays. In vivo studies with immunocompromised mice bearing HER2-BM tumors demonstrated that M6 inhibits tumor growth and metastasis to the lungs, livers, and kidneys by ∼90%, comparable with MBQ-167. These findings suggest that M6 exhibits potent anticancer properties both in vitro and in vivo, potentially contributing to the sustained efficacy of MBQ-167 in metastatic breast cancer.