Flavokavain B is a

flavokavain Flavokavains (also called flavokawains) are a class of chalconoids found in the kava plant. Currently identified types include flavokavain A, flavokavain B, and flavokavain C. File:flavokavain A.png, Flavokavain A File:flavokavain B.png, Flav ...

found in the

kava Kava or kava kava (''Piper methysticum'': Latin 'pepper' and Latinized Ancient Greek, Greek 'intoxicating') is a plant in the Piperaceae, pepper family, native to the Pacific Islands. The name ''kava'' is from Tongan language, Tongan and Marqu ...

plant. A systematic review of studies on kava found evidence that its bioactive compounds, particularly flavokavain B, exert

antiproliferative Cytostasis (cyto – cell; stasis – stoppage) is the inhibition of cell growth and multiplication. Cytostatic refers to a cellular component or medicine that inhibits cell division and induce cell death. Cytostasis is an important prerequisite ...

and pro-

apoptotic Apoptosis (from ) is a form of programmed cell death that occurs in multicellular organisms and in some eukaryotic, single-celled microorganisms such as yeast. Biochemical events lead to characteristic cell changes ( morphology) and death. These ...

effects across multiple cancer models, highlighting its potential

chemotherapeutic Chemotherapy (often abbreviated chemo, sometimes CTX and CTx) is the type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) in a standard regimen. Chemotherapy may be given with a curat ...

use especially for epithelial cancers, though research on oral

squamous cell Epithelium or epithelial tissue is a thin, continuous, protective layer of Cell (biology), cells with little extracellular matrix. An example is the epidermis, the outermost layer of the skin. Epithelial (Mesothelium, mesothelial) tissues line ...

carcinoma Carcinoma is a malignancy that develops from epithelial cells. Specifically, a carcinoma is a cancer that begins in a tissue that lines the inner or outer surfaces of the body, and that arises from cells originating in the endodermal, mesoder ...

remains scarce. It is a potent liver toxin that causes

cell death Cell death is the event of a biological cell ceasing to carry out its functions. This may be the result of the natural process of old cells dying and being replaced by new ones, as in programmed cell death, or may result from factors such as di ...

by inducing

oxidative stress Oxidative stress reflects an imbalance between the systemic manifestation of reactive oxygen species and a biological system's ability to readily detoxify the reactive intermediates or to repair the resulting damage. Disturbances in the normal ...

and disrupting key cellular signaling pathways, but its harmful effects can be reversed by

glutathione Glutathione (GSH, ) is an organic compound with the chemical formula . It is an antioxidant in plants, animals, fungi, and some bacteria and archaea. Glutathione is capable of preventing damage to important cellular components caused by sources ...

supplementation. Studies show that flavokavain B is present at much higher levels in “Two-Day” kava cultivars like Palisi compared to noble varieties, but current evidence does not conclusively prove it is responsible for kava-related

liver toxicity Hepatotoxicity (from ''hepatic toxicity'') implies chemical-driven liver damage. Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) is a cause of acute and chronic liver disease caused specifically by medications and the most common reason for a drug to be withdr ...

in humans.Teschke, R., Qiu, S. X., & Lebot, V. (2011). Herbal hepatotoxicity by kava: Update on pipermethystine, flavokavain B, and mould hepatotoxins as primarily assumed culprits. ''Digestive and Liver Disease'', 43(9), 676–681. https://www.dldjournalonline.com/article/S1590-8658(11)00048-X/fulltext

References

External links

Flavokawain B
at the ''

United States National Library of Medicine The United States National Library of Medicine (NLM), operated by the United States federal government, is the world's largest medical library. Located in Bethesda, Maryland, the NLM is an institute within the National Institutes of Health. I ...

'' Kava Phenol ethers {{Aromatic-stub

See also

References

External links