Potential Anti-Inflammatory and Anti-Cancer Properties of Farnesol.
Farnesol, an acyclic sesquiterpene alcohol, is predominantly found in essential oils of various plants in nature. It has been reported to exhibit anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory effects, and also alleviate allergic asthma, gliosis, and edema. In numerous tumor cell lines, farnesol can modulate various tumorigenic proteins and/or modulates diverse signal transduction cascades. It can also induce apoptosis and downregulate cell proliferation, angiogenesis, and cell survival. To exert its anti-inflammatory/anti-oncogenic effects, farnesol can modulate Ras protein and nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells activation to downregulate the expression of various inflammatory mediators such as cyclooxygenase-2, inducible nitric oxide synthase, tumor necrosis factor alpha, and interleukin-6. In this review, we describe the potential mechanisms of action underlying the therapeutic effects of farnesol against cancers and inflammatory disorders. Furthermore, these findings support the clinical development of farnesol as a potential pharmacological agent in clinical studies.
['Jung|Young Yun|YY|', 'Hwang|Sun Tae|ST|', 'Sethi|Gautam|G|', 'Fan|Lu|L|', 'Arfuso|Frank|F|', 'Ahn|Kwang Seok|KS|0000-0002-2882-0612']
D017209:Apoptosis D051546:Cyclooxygenase 2 D005204:Farnesol D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic D006801:Humans D007249:Inflammation D009369:Neoplasms D052247:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha D018631:ras Proteins
farnesol apoptosis cancer inflammation