Affiliation:
1. Cancer Institute, The Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, Qingdao, Shandong, 266071, China
Abstract
The term “vitamin P” is an old but interesting concept. Most substances in this category belong
to the family of flavonoids. “Vitamin P” has also been used to define the activity of some flavonoids,
including quercetin, myricetin, and rutin. According to experimental studies, the “quercetin-like
natural plant flavonoids” are beneficial to the body due to their various physiological and pharmacological
activities in large doses (5 μM in vitro, 50 mg/kg in mice and 100 mg/kg in rats). The physiologically
achievable concentration is 10 to 100 nM, which is quite high and hard to achieve from a
normal diet. Thus, the physiologic activity and mechanism of "vitamin P" are still not clear. It should
be noted that the quercetin-like natural plant flavonoids are physiological co-factors of cyclooxygenases
(COXs), which are the rate-limiting key enzymes of prostaglandins. These quercetin-like natural
plant flavonoids can strongly stimulate prostaglandin levels at lower doses (10 nM in vitro and in 0.1
mg/kg in vivo in rats). Although these "vitamin P" substances are not original substances in the body,
their physiological functions affect the body. This review is focused on the most compelling evidence
regarding the physiologic role and mechanism of quercetin-like natural plant flavonoids, which may be
useful in understanding the physiological functions of "vitamin P", with the goal of focusing on the
role of flavonoids in human physiological health.
Funder
Weifang City Science and Technology Bureau
Department of Health of Shandong Province
Qingdao Postdoctoral Application Project
China Postdoctoral Science Foundation
Publisher
Bentham Science Publishers Ltd.
Subject
Pharmaceutical Science,Biotechnology
Cited by
23 articles.
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