Table 2.
Anti-inflammatory and anticancer activities of micronutrients through regulation of specific cell signaling pathways.
| Micronutrient | Signaling Pathway(s) | Types of Cancer | Anti-Inflammatory & Anti-Cancer Activity | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vitamin A | Activation of NF-κB, downregulation of the synthesis, and secretion of IgE through RARα | Chronic myelogenous leukemia, leukemia, cervical cancer, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), head and neck cancer | Growth arrest, apoptosis, re-differentiation, halting of inflammatory cytokines | [35,66,67,68,69] |
| Vitamin B | Downregulation of the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) signaling pathway | Lung, breast, and thyroid cancer; acute myeloid leukemia (AML); malignant lymphoma; acute lymphoblasyic leukemia; non-Hodgkin lymphoma; and melanoma | Maintenance of the VEGF levels and reduction in angiogenesis | [5,27,70] |
| Vitamin C | Activation of ten-eleven translocation proteins (TET) and downregulation of pluripotency factors | Primary or metastatic brain tumors, NSCLC, cervical cancer, and breast carcinoma (stage II) | Degradation of hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF-1); essential for tumor cell survival; activation of NKT cells and monocytes | [62,71,72,73] |
| Vitamin D | Activation of MAPK kinases, PI3 kinases, and phospholipase A2 and C signaling pathways (PI3K/AkT/ERK1/2/MAPK) | Skin cancer, melanoma, lymphoma, and leukemia | Inhibition of angiogenesis and metastasis; induction of apoptosis and autophagy | [9,74] |
| Vitamin E | Activation of NF-κB and downregulation of cyclooxygenase and 5-lipoxygenase-catalyzed eicosanoids | Head and neck cancer, esophageal cancer, hepatocellular cancer, AML, solid malignancies (lung, pvarian, rhinopharynx, urethral, gastric, testicular, ethmoidal, and tongue cancer), oral and uropharynx cancer. | Induction of autophagy and reduction of angiogenesis | [45] |
| Vitamin K | Downregulation of 12-lipoxygenase signaling pathway | solid malignancies (lung, pvarian, rhinopharynx, urethral, gastric, testicular, ethmoidal, and tongue cancer). | Differentiation and apoptosis as well as maintenance of cellular redox homeostasis | [75] |
| Selenium | Downregulation of Nrf2 signaling pathway | All types of cancer | Activation and proliferation of B cells and various enzyme activation | [76,77] |
| Zinc | Upregulation of NK cells | All types of cancer | Enzyme activation. Stabilization and regulation of cellular signaling | [78] |
| Copper | Regulation of Nrf2 signaling pathway | All types of cancer | Generation of free radicals (reactive oxygen and nitrogen species) | [79] |
| Magnesium | Activation of Stat3 and NF-κB signaling pathways | All types of cancer | Reduction of inflammatory biomarkers, such as C-reactive protein (CRP) and increasing nitric oxide (NO) levels | [80] |
| Manganese | Activation of NF-κB and hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF-1) | All types of cancer | Maintenance of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and production of reactive species | [81] |
Abbreviations: NF-κB, nuclear factor kappa light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells; RARα, retinoic acid receptor alpha; NKT, natural killer T cells; MAPK, mitogen-activated protein kinase; AKT, protein kinase B; ERK, extracellular signal-regulated kinase; Nrf2, nuclear factor erythroid 2–related factor 2.