GUGGULSTERONE: MECHANISM OF ACTION AND PROSPECTS OF CHEMO PREVENTION IN PROSTATE CANCER

Remarkable pharmacological effects exhibited by Guggulsterone (GS) establish its potential as an effective anticancer agent. GS is widely known for its anti-inflammatory and hypolipidemic activities. At the molecular level, GS is known to modulate the activity of various nuclear receptors, growth factors and transcription factors. However, the complete sequence of the underlying anticancer mechanism of GS is not completely understood. Prostate cancer (PCa) initiation is marked with inflammatory events and disease advances towards castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPCa) through constitutively activated androgen receptor and hyperactivated survival signaling such as NF-kB; therefore PCa cell lines offer a good model system to study the anticancer activities of GS. Considering the fact that GS is both anti-inflammatory and androgen receptor (AR) antagonist, it can be widely employed to achieve two objectives simultaneously – chemoprevention as well as an anti-cancer agent. Evidence from preclinical trials and prescribed usage in Ayurvedic medicine has promoted the use of guggul as a health supplement. However, the use of GS is not completely free of side effects and exploring GS’s mode of action is required to safeguard the fast-growing success of guggul as a health supplement, which would be a key to the safety and efficacy of GS as a drug. This review presents a brief synopsis about the anticancer activity of GS with a special focus on prostate cancer, features of GS which promote it as a potential Chemopreventive agent, and account of potential GS molecular targets which are involved in PCa pathogenesis.