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Anticancer Activity of Diosgenin and Its Molecular Mechanism

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Diosgenin, a steroidal sapogenin, obtained from Trigonella foenum-graecum, Dioscorea, and Rhizoma polgonati, has shown high potential and interest in the treatment of various cancers such as oral squamous cell carcinoma, laryngeal cancer, esophageal cancer, liver cancer, gastric cancer, lung cancer, cervical cancer, prostate cancer, glioma, and leukemia. This article aims to provide an overview of the in vivo, in vitro, and clinical studies reporting the diosgenin’s anticancer effects. Preclinical studies have shown promising effects of diosgenin on inhibiting tumor cell proliferation and growth, promoting apoptosis, inducing differentiation and autophagy, inhibiting tumor cell metastasis and invasion, blocking cell cycle, regulating immunity and improving gut microbiome. Clinical investigations have revealed clinical dosage and safety property of diosgenin. Furthermore, in order to improve the biological activity and bioavailability of diosgenin, this review focuses on the development of diosgenin nano drug carriers, combined drugs and the diosgenin derivatives. However, further designed trials are needed to unravel the diosgenin’s deficiencies in clinical application.

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Data Availability

The datasets used during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Special Key Laboratory of Microbial Resources and Drug Development, Higher Education Institution, Zunyi, Guizhou Province, 563000, China

    Qun-li Ren, Qian Wang, Miao Wang, Huan Hu & Xiao-lan Li

  2. School of Stomatology, Zunyi Medical University, Zunyi, Guizhou Province, 563000, China

    Qun-li Ren, Qian Wang, Miao Wang, Huan Hu, Jian-guo Liu & Xiao-lan Li

  3. Institute of Life Sciences, Zunyi Medical University, Zunyi, Guizhou Province, 563000, China

    Qun-li Ren, Qian Wang, Miao Wang, Huan Hu & Xiao-lan Li

  4. Zheng’an County people’s Hospital, Zunyi, Guizhou Province, 563000, China

    Xin-qun Zhang

  5. School of Basic Medicine, Zunyi Medical University, Zunyi, Guizhou Province, 563000, China

    Jun-jie Tang, Xiong-tong Yang, Ying-hui Ran, Huan-huan Liu & Zhi-xing Song

Authors
  1. Qun-li Ren
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  2. Qian Wang
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  3. Xin-qun Zhang
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  4. Miao Wang
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  5. Huan Hu
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  6. Jun-jie Tang
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  9. Huan-huan Liu
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  10. Zhi-xing Song
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  11. Jian-guo Liu
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  12. Xiao-lan Li
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Contributions

Ren QL, Liu JG and Wang Q designed the study and wrote the initial draft. Ren QL, Zhang XQ, Wang M, Hu H and Li XL drafted the article or revised it critically for important intellectual content. Ren QL, Tang JJ, Yang XT, Ran YH, Liu HH, and Song ZX participated in final approval of the version to be submitted. All authors were involved in reviewing and editing of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Xiao-lan Li.

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Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest regarding the publication of this paper.

Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31860076), Outstanding Young Talent Project of Zunyi Medical University (No. 17zy-002), Technology Support Program of Zunyi (No. ZSKH-HZ-ZI-2020-88), Science and Technology Project of Zunyi [ZSKH-HZ (2020) No.60/55], Special Project of Zunyi Medical University for Academic New Talents [No. QKHPT (2018) 5772-067/062], and Guizhou Provincial Chinese Medicine Administration Project (No. QZYY-2019-064)

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Ren, Ql., Wang, Q., Zhang, Xq. et al. Anticancer Activity of Diosgenin and Its Molecular Mechanism. Chin. J. Integr. Med. 29, 738–749 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11655-023-3693-1

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