The anti-leukemia activity and mechanisms of shikonin: a mini review

Han Dong; Chun-Di Chang; Fei Gao; Na Zhang; Xing-Jian Yan; Xue Wu; Yue-Hui Wang

doi:10.3389/fphar.2023.1271252

The anti-leukemia activity and mechanisms of shikonin: a mini review

Front Pharmacol. 2023 Nov 2:14:1271252. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2023.1271252. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Han Dong¹, Chun-Di Chang^#², Fei Gao^#³, Na Zhang⁴, Xing-Jian Yan⁵, Xue Wu¹, Yue-Hui Wang¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Geriatrics, Jilin Geriatrics Clinical Research Center, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, China.
² Department of Neurology, Jilin Province People's Hospital, Changchun, China.
³ Endocrine Department, Qian Wei Hospital of Jilin Province, Changchun, China.
⁴ Electrodiagnosis Department, Jilin Province FAW General Hospital, Changchun, China.
⁵ Department of Urology, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Leukemia encompasses a group of highly heterogeneous diseases that pose a serious threat to human health. The long-term outcome of patients with leukemia still needs to be improved and new effective therapeutic strategies continue to be an unmet clinical need. Shikonin (SHK) is a naphthoquinone derivative that shows multiple biological function includes anti-tumor, anti-inflammatory, and anti-allergic effects. Numerous studies have reported the anti-leukemia activity of SHK during the last 3 decades and there are studies showing that SHK is particularly effective towards various leukemia cells compared to solid tumors. In this review, we will discuss the anti-leukemia effect of SHK and summarize the underlying mechanisms. Therefore, SHK may be a promising agent to be developed as an anti-leukemia drug.

Keywords: anti-leukemia activity; leukemia; mechanisms; multiple targets; shikonin.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This work was supported by grants from Graduate Ideological and Political Education Innovation Research Project of the First Hospital of Jilin University (Yjs2021030 and Yjs2022003).