Flavonoids, dietary-derived inhibitors of cell proliferation and in vitro angiogenesis.

TLDR

Consumption of a plant‑based diet can prevent the development and progression of chronic diseases associated with extensive neovascularization, including solid malignant tumors. The study reports that structurally related flavonoids are more potent inhibitors of cell proliferation and angiogenesis than genistein. The authors found that several flavonoids—including 3‑hydroxyflavone, 3′,4′‑dihydroxyflavone, 2′,3′‑dihydroxyflavone, fisetin, apigenin, and luteolin—potently inhibited normal and tumor cell proliferation and in vitro angiogenesis at low micromolar concentrations, and that genistein levels in urine are 30‑fold higher in plant‑diet consumers, supporting a role for flavonoids in the protective effect of plant‑based diets against chronic diseases.

Abstract

Consumption of a plant-based diet can prevent the development and progression of chronic diseases associated with extensive neovascularization, including solid malignant tumors. In previous studies, we have shown that the plant-derived isoflavonoid genistein is a potent inhibitor of cell proliferation and in vitro angiogenesis. In the present study, we report that certain structurally related flavonoids are more potent inhibitors than genistein. Indeed, 3-hydroxyflavone, 3',4'-dihydroxyflavone, 2',3'-dihydroxyflavone, fisetin, apigenin, and luteolin inhibited the proliferation of normal and tumor cells, as well as in vitro angiogenesis, at half-maximal concentrations in the low micromolar range. We have previously demonstrated that genistein concentrations in the urine of subjects consuming a plant-based diet is 30-fold higher than in subjects consuming a traditional Western diet. The wider distribution and the more abundant presence of flavonoids in the plant kingdom, together with the present results, suggest that flavonoids may contribute to the preventive effect of a plant-based diet on chronic diseases, including solid tumors.