title: Biomedical properties of a natural dietary plant metabolite, zerumbone, in cancer therapy and chemoprevention trials.
abstract: Zerumbone (ZER) is a naturally occurring dietary compound, present in many natural foods consumed today. The compound derived from several plant species of the Zingiberaceae family that has been found to possess multiple biomedical properties, such as antiproliferative, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer activities. However, evidence of efficacy is sparse, pointing to the need for a more systematic review for assessing scientific evidence to support therapeutic claims made for ZER and to identify future research needs. This review provides an updated overview of in vitro and in vivo investigations of ZER, its cancer chemopreventive properties, and mechanisms of action. Therapeutic effects of ZER were found to be scientifically plausible and could be explained partially by in vivo and in vitro pharmacological activities. Much of the research outlined in this paper will serve as a foundation to explain ZER anticancer bioactivity, which will open the door for the development of strategies in the treatment of malignancies using ZER.
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Clinical Diagnosis, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia ; Institute of Bioscience, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia ; Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Sulaimanyah, Sulaymaniyah, Kurdistan Region, Iraq.
authors.forename: Heshu Sulaiman
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Rahman
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Clinical Diagnosis, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia ; Institute of Bioscience, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Abdullah
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rasedee
authors.affiliation: Institute of Bioscience, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Swee Keong
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Yeap
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Clinical Diagnosis, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia ; Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Sulaimanyah, Sulaymaniyah, Kurdistan Region, Iraq.
authors.forename: Hemn Hassan
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Othman
authors.affiliation: DigiCare Behavioral Research, Casa Grande, AZ, USA.
authors.forename: Max Stanley
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Chartrand
authors.affiliation: Institute of Tropical Forestry and Forest Products (INTROP), Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Farideh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Namvar
authors.affiliation: Institute of Bioscience, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Ahmad Bustamam
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Abdul
authors.affiliation: Institute of Bioscience, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Chee Wun
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: How
mesh_terms: D000975:Antioxidants / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects*; D018890:Chemoprevention; D004032:Diet; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D012717:Sesquiterpenes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D030521:Zingiberaceae / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D000975:Antioxidants; D012717:Sesquiterpenes; C403304:zerumbone