Editorial: Angiogenesis and Nutraceuticals
Identification of natural food components for preventing or ameliorating angiogenesis-associated complications would be of a greater advantage because of their low toxicity or limited side effects.
Abstract
Angiogenesis is the formation of new capillary blood vessels from pre-existing arteries, veins and capillaries. This process involves proliferation, migration and differentiation of vascular endothelial cells following the stimulation by specific angiogenic factors. Angiogenesis is a hallmark of several physiological and pathological conditions. It contributes to tissue repair, expansion, and remodeling in physiological processes such as wound healing, ovulation and embryo development. Nevertheless, when dysregulated, angiogenesis contributes to disease progression in different pathologies including cancer, atherosclerosis, cerebrovascular diseases and chronic inflammation. Many of these conditions share the same characteristics, including the occurrence of hypoxia, inflammation or oxidative stress, recruitment of inflammatory cells, angiogenic growth factor production, basement membrane degradation, endothelial cell migration, proliferation and differentiation and modulation of vascular support cells. Targeting the angiogenic process is at the present one of the main goals in pharmacology and there has been a great interest in the development of angiogenesis strategies that could inhibit tumor vascularization, diabetic retinopathy, inflammatory or cerebrovascular diseases. At present, the antiangiogenic therapy utilizes drugs that target either the angiogenic factors or angiogenic factor signal cascade. However, several clinical trials have shown that these angiogenic regulators have clinical limitations including short therapeutic effects, development of resistance and adverse reactions which have led to the decrease in the use of anti-angiogenic drugs and have encouraged the search for alternative strategies to treat angiogenic diseases. The term nutraceuticals refers to dietary components that provide health benefit in addition to their basic nutritional value. In the last years, the diet-based approach for the treatment of angiogenesis is gaining more attention, as testified by several reports showing the antiangiogenesis effect of food components. A wide variety of bioactive compounds identified specifically in plants are known to possess anti-angiogenic effects by modulating different pathways. Thus, identification of natural food components for preventing or ameliorating angiogenesis-associated complications would be of a greater advantage because of their low toxicity or limited side effects. A comprehensive review of the role of chemical components of foods in the regulation of angiogenesis is provided by Pan et al.. Pharmacological properties of flavonoids, terpenoids, saponins, alkaloids, polysaccharides, tannins are described, with a particular focus on their ability to inhibit or promote angiogenesis in different models. These bioactive compounds can regulate the transmission of different angiogenesis-related signaling pathways. In particular, the inhibition of growth and migration of vascular endothelial cells, as well as the regulation of the Edited and reviewed by: Lucia Morbidelli, University of Siena, Italy