Cancer Fighting - Taheebo, extracted from the inner bark of the Tabebuia avellandae tree found in the Brazilian Amazon, exhibits selective anti-proliferative effects in carcinoma cell lines. The anti-proliferative effects of Taheebo correlate with down-regulated cell cycle regulatory and estrogen responsive genes, and up-regulated apoptosis specific and xeno-biotic metabolism specific genes. These data validate a rapid mechanistic approach to prioritize efficacious herbal medicines, thereby complementing the existing endocrine therapy for breast cancer.

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The cytotoxic activity of Nor-β-lapachone against PC3M human prostate cancer cells was demonstrated to be significantly enhanced when delivered by PLGA microcapsules in comparison with the free drug.

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β-lap markedly suppressed the growth and angiogenesis of human lung cancer xenografts in nude mice and decreased the levels of receptor-interacting protein, AKT, CDK4, and CD31 in the solid tumors. Unlike other NQO1-dependent cytotoxic quinones, such as streptonigrin, menadione, mitomycin, and 17-allylamino-17-demethoxygeldanamycin, β-lap was the only agent that could cause Hsp90 cleavage. Taken together, our results suggest a crucial mechanism underlying the antitumor efficacy of β-lap.

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Obesity - Estrogen deficiency-induced obesity has a high risk of visceral fat accumulation and body weight gain.These results suggested that the anti-obesity effect of Taheebo extract is due to its capability in preventing the accumulation of adipocyte in mice. Taheebo extract might be a promising functional food resources capable of protecting against OVX-induced obesity.

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Expression of mRNA and proteins related to lipogenesis were decreased in Taheebo TBE-administered mice compared to mice fed HFD alone. These results suggest that TBE inhibits obesity and fat accumulation by regulation of gene expression related to lipid metabolism in HFD-induced obesity in mice.

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Antioxidant Properties - β-Lapachone (β-LAP) is a naturally occurring quinine that exerts a number of pharmacological actions including antibacterial, antifungal, antimalarial, and antitumor activities. Collectively, the results suggest that β-LAP increases antioxidant enzyme gene expression in astrocytes by modulating NQO1-AMPK/PI3K-Nrf2/ARE signaling.

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The increase of incidence of tuberculosis (TB) with resistant strains and HIV co-infection has reinforced the necessity of developing new dr