Bitter Melon as a Therapy for Diabetes, Inflammation, and Cancer: a Panacea?

Current Pharmacology Reports - Tập 2 - Trang 34-44 - 2016
Deep Kwatra1,2, Prasad Dandawate1, Subhash Padhye3, Shrikant Anant1,2
1Department of Surgery, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, USA
2The University of Kansas Cancer Center, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, USA
3Interdisciplinary Science and Technology Research Academy, Abeda Inamdar College, University of Pune, Pune, India

Tóm tắt

Natural products have been used for centuries for cures prevention, treatment, and cure of multiple diseases. Some dietary agents are present in multiple systems of medicines as proposed treatments for chronic and difficult to treat diseases. Once such natural product is Momordica charantia or bitter melon. Bitter melon is cultivated in multiple regions across the world, and various parts of the plant, such as fruit, leaves seed, etc. have been shown to possess medicinal properties in ancient literature. Over the last few decades, multiple well-structured scientific studies have been performed to study the effects of bitter melon in various diseases. Some of the properties for which bitter melon has been studied include: antioxidant, antidiabetic, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, anti-HIV, anthelmintic, hypotensive, anti-obesity, immuno-modulatory, antihyperlipidemic, hepato-protective, and neuro-protective activities. This review attempts to summarize the various literature findings regarding medicinal properties of bitter melon. With such strong scientific support on so many medicinal claims, bitter melon comes close to being considered a panacea.

Tài liệu tham khảo

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