#Liquorice #Popular #candy #anticancer #agent
Cancer and its various variants are one of the best-known and most common causes of death worldwide. Treatments such as chemotherapy have been in use for a long time, but do not always work well, which is why the mortality rate remains high. But a new discovery now gives hope in the fight against the disease – it’s in, of all things licorice.
licorice : This substance could fight cancer
Liquorice is an extract of the root of the real licorice and has been used since ancient times as a remedy against all kinds of diseases. Now a research team from Hong Kong Baptist University has taken a closer look and got a closer look at an ingredient called isoliquiritigenin (ISL). examined. Computer modeling initially found that ISL could potentially work well against pancreatic cancer.
To test its actual effectiveness, different amounts of ISL were added to human pancreatic cancer cells. A 50 percent higher death rate of diseased cells was observed after the addition of 12.5 micrometers of ISL compared to untreated cells. If you doubled the dose, the value increased to 80 percent. Further experiments in mice confirmed the results: the substance also caused significantly smaller tumors in the animals after just 21 days.
Also good to know: While research continues to search for a cure for cancer, you can also take steps to prevent it from occurring in the first place. One remedy is proper nutrition. That’s why we tell you two types of carcinogenic drinkswhich you better avoid.
As effective as chemotherapy, only more natural
Treatment with the original licorice is said to be as effective as standard chemotherapy. However, this can be toxic to the body in other ways and cancer cells can also develop resistance to it. A natural alternative could therefore be promising. However, a combination is also conceivable: In some mouse experiments, ISL and chemical agents were used – the latter then showed an 18 percent increase in effectiveness.
The research team believes that ISL is so successful because it blocks the cells’ autophagy process. This is completely natural and ensures that damaged or redundant cell parts are rejected. In the early stages of cancer, it even prevents the cancer from spreading. However, later in the course of the disease, autophagy increases the motility of cancer cells and thus helps them to spread.
With the new study, licorice is increasingly becoming a natural secret weapon against cancer. Previous Studies showed that other ingredients can also control autophagy in colon cancer cells and contribute to their death. However, it is not clear whether regular licorice consumption should now be on the menu. In fact, the experts want to find out how ISL can be used for treatment, especially clinically.
Quellen: „Isoliquiritigenin inhibits pancreatic cancer progression through blockade of p38 MAPK-regulated autophagy“ (Phytomedicine 2022), „Diprenylated flavonoids from licorice induce death of SW480 colorectal cancer cells by promoting autophagy: Activities of lupalbigenin and 6,8-diprenylgenistein“ (Journal of Ethnopharmacology 2022)
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