Effect of combined treatment with lobaplatin and osthole on inducing apoptosis and inhibiting proliferation in human breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells

Anticancer potential of osthole: targeting gynecological tumors and breast cancer

Gynecological tumors, such as ovarian, endometrial, and cervical cancers, alongside breast cancer, represent significant malignancies that pose serious threats to women's health worldwide. Standard treatments, including surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and targeted therapies, are commonly utilized in clinical practice. However, challenges such as high recurrence rates, drug resistance, and adverse side effects underscore the urgent need for more effective therapeutic options. Osthole, a natural coumarin compound derived from Chinese herbal medicine, has demonstrated remarkable antitumor activity against various cancers. Emerging evidence indicates that osthole can inhibit the proliferation, invasion, and metastasis of gynecological and breast cancer cells through various mechanisms, including inducing apoptosis and autophagy, regulating the tumor microenvironment, inhibiting tumor angiogenesis, and enhancing the sensitivity of cancer cells to chemotherapy and radiotherapy. This review highlights the recent advancements in osthole research within the context of gynecological and breast cancers, focusing on its molecular mechanisms, and offers a theoretical foundation for its potential development as an anticancer agent.

Osthole, a Coumarin from Cnidium monnieri: A Review on Its Pharmacology, Pharmacokinetics, Safety, and Innovative Drug Delivery Platforms

Osthole, a coumarin compound mainly derived from Cnidium monnieri (L.), has attracted much interest from the scientific community owing to its multiple therapeutic properties. However, its pharmacological mechanism, pharmacokinetics, and toxicological effects are far from clear. Furthermore, the potential drug delivery platforms of osthole remain to be comprehensively delineated. The present review aimed to systematically summarize the most up-to-date information related to pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, and safety issues related to osthole, and discuss the investigations of novel drug delivery platforms. The information herein discussed was retrieved from authoritative databases, including PubMed, Web of Science, Google Scholar, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and so on, reviewing information published up until February of 2024. New evidence shows that osthole induces a sequence of therapeutic actions and has a moderate absorption rate and rapid metabolic characteristics. In addition, this phytoconstituent possesses potential hepatotoxicity, and caution should be exercised against the risk of the drug combination. Furthermore, given its needy solubility in aqueous medium and non-organizational targeting, novel drug delivery methods have been designed to overcome these shortcomings. Given the properties of osthole, its therapeutic benefits ought to be elucidated in a greater array of comprehensive research studies, and the molecular mechanisms underlying these benefits should be explored.

Osthole: An up-to-date review of its anticancer potential and mechanisms of action

With its high incidence and mortality rates, cancer is one of the largest health problems worldwide. Investigating various cancer treatment options has been the focus of many domestic and international researchers, and significant progress has been made in the study of the anticancer effects of traditional Chinese medicines. Osthole, a coumarin compound extracted from Cnidium monnieri (L.) Cuss., has become a new research hotspot. There have been many reports on its anticancer effects, and recent studies have elucidated that its underlying mechanism of action mainly involves inhibiting cancer cell proliferation, inducing cancer cell apoptosis, inhibiting invasion and migration of cancer cells, inhibiting cancer angiogenesis, increasing sensitivity to chemotherapy drugs, and reversing multidrug resistance of cancer cells. This mini-review summarizes the research progress on the anticancer effects of osthole in recent years.