REVIEW article
Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Ethnopharmacology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1594901
This article is part of the Research TopicAdvances in Bioactive Compounds: Mechanisms and Therapeutic PotentialsView all 5 articles
An updated review deciphering the anticancer potential of pentacyclic triterpene lupeol and its nanoformulations
Provisionally accepted
Lujain AlMousa1
Pratibha Pandey2
Sorabh Lakhanpal3Ashishkumar Kyada4Malathi H5Priya Priyadarshini Nayak6
ARIF HUSSAIN7Tarique Noorul Hasan7
Reham Alagal1*
Dr. Fahad Khan8*- 1Department of Health Sciences, College of Health and rehabilitation sciences, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
- 2Chitkara Institute of Engineering & Technology, Chitkara University, Punjab, Punjab, India
- 3School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Lovely Professional University, Phagwara, Punjab, India
- 4Marwadi University, Rajkot, Gujarat, India
- 5School of Sciences, Jain University, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
- 6Siksha O Anusandhan University, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India
- 7School of Life Sciences, Manipal Academy of Higher Education,, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- 8Saveetha Medical College & Hospital, Chennai, India
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Triterpenoids from plants are essential sources of nutraceuticals, which possess numerous positive effects on human health. Lupeol (a pentacyclic dietary triterpenoid) is commonly present in edible fruits, vegetables, and medicinal plants. Numerous investigations on the pharmacological properties of lupeol have been carried out in the past 10 years, and the results have shown that the compound has enormous pharmacological properties, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer properties. Research has shown that lupeol affects the functioning of numerous molecules, including the cytokines IL-2, NFκB, IL4, IL5, cFLIP, ILβ, and Bcl-2. Our review discusses recent advancements in plant lupeol and its underlying mode of action in combating human carcinoma within the timeframe spanning from 2010 to 2024. Also, we have tried to incorporate recent studies reported till date of the finalization of this review. In order to give researchers the most recent information, highlight the limitations of pertinent research at this time, and highlight both the mechanisms of action of lupeol and recent advances in its formulations that should be strengthened in future studies.
Keywords: Lupeol, Cancer, signaling pathway, pharmacokinetics, triterpene, natural compound, Metabolites
Received: 17 Mar 2025; Accepted: 23 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 AlMousa, Pandey, Lakhanpal, Kyada, H, Nayak, HUSSAIN, Hasan, Alagal and Khan. 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:
Reham Alagal, Department of Health Sciences, College of Health and rehabilitation sciences, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Dr. Fahad Khan, Saveetha Medical College & Hospital, Chennai, India
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.