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Cancer Cell International
Published in: Cancer Cell International 1/2013

Open Access 01-12-2013 | Review

The flavokawains: uprising medicinal chalcones

Authors: Nadiah Abu, Wan Yong Ho, Swee Keong Yeap, M Nadeem Akhtar, Mohd Puad Abdullah, Abdul Rahman Omar, Noorjahan Banu Alitheen

Published in: Cancer Cell International | Issue 1/2013

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Abstract

Plant-based compounds have been in the spotlight in search of new and promising drugs. Flavokawain A, B and C are naturally occurring chalcones that have been isolated from several medicinal plants; namely the piper methysticum or commercially known as the kava-kava. Multiple researches have been done to evaluate the bioactivities of these compounds. It has been shown that all three flavokawains may hold promising anti-cancer effects. It has also been revealed that both flavokawain A and B are involved in the induction of cell cycle arrest in several cancer cell lines. Nevertheless, flavokawain B was shown to be more effective in treating in vitro cancer cell lines as compared to flavokawain A and C. Flavokawain B also exerts antinociceptive effects as well as anti-inflammation properties. This mini-review attempts to discuss the biological properties of all the flavokawains that have been reported.
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Metadata
Title
The flavokawains: uprising medicinal chalcones
Authors
Nadiah Abu
Wan Yong Ho
Swee Keong Yeap
M Nadeem Akhtar
Mohd Puad Abdullah
Abdul Rahman Omar
Noorjahan Banu Alitheen
Publication date
01-12-2013
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
Cancer Cell International / Issue 1/2013
Electronic ISSN: 1475-2867
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-2867-13-102

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