Immunometabolism modulation, a new trick of edible and medicinal plants in cancer treatment

Wen Tan; Tingrui Pan; Shengpeng Wang; Peng Li; Yongfan Men; Rui Tan; Zhangfeng Zhong; Yitao Wang

doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2021.131860

Immunometabolism modulation, a new trick of edible and medicinal plants in cancer treatment

Food Chem. 2021 Dec 15:376:131860. doi: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2021.131860. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Wen Tan¹, Tingrui Pan², Shengpeng Wang³, Peng Li³, Yongfan Men⁴, Rui Tan⁵, Zhangfeng Zhong⁶, Yitao Wang⁷

Affiliations

¹ School of Pharmacy, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, China.
² Suzhou Institute for Advanced Research, University of Science and Technology of China, Suzhou, Jiangsu 215123, China.
³ State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine, Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, University of Macau, Macau SAR 999078, China.
⁴ Research Laboratory of Biomedical Optics and Molecular Imaging, Institute of Biomedical and Health Engineering, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518055, China.
⁵ College of Life Science and Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610031, China.
⁶ State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine, Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, University of Macau, Macau SAR 999078, China. Electronic address: zhangfengzhong@umac.edu.mo.
⁷ State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine, Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, University of Macau, Macau SAR 999078, China. Electronic address: ytwang@umac.edu.mo.

PMID: 34971892
DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2021.131860

Abstract

The edible and medicinal plants (EMPs) are becoming an abundant source for cancer prevention and treatment since the natural and healthy trend for modern human beings. Currently, there are more than one hundred species of EMPs widely used and listed by the national health commission of China, and most of them indicate immune or metabolic regulation potential in cancer treatment with numerous studies over the past two decades. In the present review, we focused on the metabolic influence in immunocytes and tumor microenvironment, including immune response, immunosuppressive factors and cancer cells, discussing the immunometabolic potential of EMPs in cancer treatment. There are more than five hundred references collected and analyzed through retrieving pharmacological studies deposited in PubMed by medical subject headings and the corresponding names derived from pharmacopoeia of China as a sole criterion. Finally, the immunometabolism modulation of EMPs was sketch out implying an immunometabolic control in cancer treatment.

Keywords: Cancer; Edible and medicinal plants; Immunometabolism; Traditional Chinese medicinal herb.

Publication types

Review