A comparative analysis of phytochemicals versus synthetic drugs/nanomedicines in the treatment of uterine fibroid: a systematic review

Abstract

Most women experience uterine fibroids (UFs), a common benign gynecological tumor, at some point in their reproductive age. There are several pharmacological treatments available to shrink fibroids and lessen the UF symptoms. These medications cost a lot of money, though, and frequently have serious side effects. Therefore, due to their low cost, comparable and powerful therapeutic efficiency and lower side effects, phytochemical-based medications are gaining popularity in these days. This review's goal is to provide a summary of the knowledge that is currently unavailable regarding the mechanisms of the action of various phytochemical-based medications with anti-uterine fibroid efficacy. The present results showed that dietary phytocompounds (dehydroxyelephantopin, butein, capsaicin, fisetin, kaempferol, resveratrol, silibinin and curcumin) could probably be effective as therapeutic compounds for uterine leiomyoma. These phytochemicals indicated their capability to regulate main fibroid promoting and initiating events for instance, proliferation, inflammation, angiogenesis and fibrosis in various experimental setups through modulating various signaling pathways, such as Smad 2/3, PI3K/AKT/mTOR, ERK 1/2 and β-catenin indicating that they could serve as targets for prevention and/or treatment of UFs. This review provides key molecular insights for the development of phytochemical-based novel personalized therapy for non-surgical management of UFs which may help to avoid hysterectomy. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Korean Society of Environmental Risk Assessment and Health Science 2023.