Vitamin C and K can sensitize cancer cells to conventional chemotherapy. - GreenMedInfo Summary
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Vitamin K: Redox-modulation, prevention of mitochondrial dysfunction and anticancer effect.
Redox Biol. 2018 Mar 20 ;16:352-358. Epub 2018 Mar 20. PMID: 29597144
Donika Ivanova
This review is directed to the redox-modulating properties and anticancer effect of vitamin K. The concept is focused on two aspects: (i) redox-cycle of vitamin K and its effect on the calcium homeostasis,"oncogenic"and"onco-suppressive"reactive oxygen species and the specific induction of oxidative stress in cancer; (ii) vitamin K plus C as a powerful redox-system, which forms a bypass between mitochondrial complexes II and III and thus prevents mitochondrial dysfunction, restores oxidative phosphorylation and aerobic glycolysis, modulates the redox-state of endogenous redox-pairs, eliminates the hypoxic environment of cancer cells and induces cell death. The analyzed data suggest that vitamin C&K can sensitize cancer cells to conventional chemotherapy, which allows achievement of a lower effective dose of the drug and minimizing the harmful side-effects. The review is intended for a wide audience of readers - from students to specialists in the field.