Vallianou, NG; Evangelopoulos, A; Skourtis, A; Kazazis, C
Honey mainly consists of sugars and water, but also contains several vitamins, especially B complex and vitamin C, together with a lot of minerals. Some of the vitamins found in honey include ascorbic acid, pantothenic acid, niacin and riboflavin. Minerals such as calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium and zinc are also present in honey. Honey has been demonstrated to possess anti-cancerous characteristics, which may be utilized in cancer prevention and treatment. Its pro-apoptotic and anti-proliferative properties are attributed to its phenolic content, especially chrysin, which is implicated in the increased expression of caspase-9, caspase-3 and the pro-apoptotic protein Bax as well as the decreased expression of the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2. TNF-a has been suggested to be involved in honey-induced apoptosis through the induction of caspase-8, which is mainly triggered by its phenolic compound chrysin. TNF-a and IL-6 are implicated in the immune-protective and immune-modulatory properties of honey, while the estrogen antagonistic effect of honey contributes to its immune-modulatory activity, too. Unfortunately, most studies have been conducted in vitro and not in vivo, where the co-administration of other drugs may be a problem, especially among cancer patients, who usually take multiple agents that affect the CYP3A4 enzyme. The anti-cancerous properties of honey will be reviewed here.