title: The flavokawains: uprising medicinal chalcones.
abstract: Plant-based compounds have been in the spotlight in search of new and promising drugs. Flavokawain A, B and C are naturally occurring chalcones that have been isolated from several medicinal plants; namely the piper methysticum or commercially known as the kava-kava. Multiple researches have been done to evaluate the bioactivities of these compounds. It has been shown that all three flavokawains may hold promising anti-cancer effects. It has also been revealed that both flavokawain A and B are involved in the induction of cell cycle arrest in several cancer cell lines. Nevertheless, flavokawain B was shown to be more effective in treating in vitro cancer cell lines as compared to flavokawain A and C. Flavokawain B also exerts antinociceptive effects as well as anti-inflammation properties. This mini-review attempts to discuss the biological properties of all the flavokawains that have been reported.
authors.forename: Nadiah
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Abu
authors.forename: Wan Yong
authors.initials: WY
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.forename: Swee Keong
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Yeap
authors.forename: M Nadeem
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Akhtar
authors.forename: Mohd Puad
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Abdullah
authors.forename: Abdul Rahman
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Omar
authors.affiliation: Bright Sparks Unit, University Malaya, 53500, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. noorjahan@biotech.upm.edu.my.
authors.forename: Noorjahan Banu
authors.initials: NB
authors.lastname: Alitheen