Skip to main content

REVIEW article

Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Gastrointestinal and Hepatic Pharmacology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fphar.2024.1508060

Apigenin as an emerging hepatoprotective agent: Current status and future perspectives

Provisionally accepted
Cheng Wang Cheng Wang 1Xiaoli Feng Xiaoli Feng 1Wen Li Wen Li 1Li Chen Li Chen 1Xinming Wang Xinming Wang 1Yimiao Lan Yimiao Lan 1Rong Tang Rong Tang 2Ting Jiang Ting Jiang 1Ling-Li Zheng Ling-Li Zheng 1Gang Liu Gang Liu 1*
  • 1 Chengdu Medical College, Chengdu, China
  • 2 Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Apigenin (C15H10O5, API) is a natural flavonoid widely found in vegetables, fruits, and plants such as celery, oranges, and chamomile. In recent years, API has attracted considerable attention as a dietary supplement due to its low toxicity, non-mutagenic properties and remarkable therapeutic efficacy in various diseases. In particular, evidence from a large number of preclinical studies suggests that API has promising effects in the prevention and treatment of a variety of liver diseases, including multifactorial liver injury, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease/non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, liver fibrosis and liver cancer. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the progress of research into the therapeutic applications of API in liver diseases as of August 2024, based on literature retrieved from databases such as Web of Science, PubMed, CNKI, Google Scholar and ScienceDirect. The hepatoprotective effects of API involve multiple molecular mechanisms, including inhibition of inflammation, alleviation of hepatic oxidative stress, amelioration of insulin resistance, promotion of fatty acid oxidation, inhibition of liver cancer cell proliferation and differentiation, and induction of tumour cell apoptosis. More importantly, signaling pathways such as Nrf2, NF-κB, PI3K/Akt/mTOR, NLRP3, Wnt/β-catenin, TGF-β1/Smad3, AMPK/SREBP, PPARα/γ, MAPKs, and Caspases are identified as key targets through which API exerts its beneficial effects in various liver diseases. Studies on its toxicity and pharmacokinetics indicate that API has low toxicity, is slowly metabolized and excreted in vivo, and has low oral bioavailability. In addition, the paper summarises and discusses the sources, physicochemical properties, new dosage forms, and current challenges and opportunities of API, with the aim of providing direction and rationale for the further development and clinical application of API in the food, pharmaceutical and nutraceutical fields.

    Keywords: Apigenin, Liver disease, Hepatoprotection, Toxicity, pharmacokinetics, New Formulations

    Received: 08 Oct 2024; Accepted: 04 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Wang, Feng, Li, Chen, Wang, Lan, Tang, Jiang, Zheng and Liu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Gang Liu, Chengdu Medical College, Chengdu, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.