Antioxidant and Anticancer Activities of Food Ingredients and Natural Products

A special issue of Antioxidants (ISSN 2076-3921). This special issue belongs to the section "Natural and Synthetic Antioxidants".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2026 | Viewed by 1090

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Food Science and Nutrition, School of Environment, University of Aegean, 81400 Lemnos, Greece
Interests: role of hypoxia in senescence and survival of human cells; oxidative stress; cell signaling and apoptosis; antimicrobial and antioxidant activity of nanoparticles; antioxidant, anticancer, and anti-angiogenic effects of bioactive compounds from herbs and spices used in nutrition

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Natural products and food ingredients are directly or indirectly responsible for the design and/or discovery of 80% of all drugs that are used in therapeutic strategies for human diseases, as well as in preventive medicine. Some of the most important bioactivities of natural products and food ingredients are the antioxidant and the anticancer activities. Nowadays, oxidative stress has been associated with cancer disease development and progression that, in turn, is strongly linked with high mortality worldwide. This Special Issue aims to promote a holistic approach, which will encourage the development of relevant public policies to promote the well-being and the daily quality of life for both cancer patients and healthy individuals susceptible to cancer disease due to oxidative stress.

We welcome the submission of all manuscript types supported by the journal (including articles, reviews, brief research reports, etc.) on the antioxidant and anti-cancer activities of natural products and food ingredients, pertaining, but not limited to, the following themes:

  • Retrospective and prospective clinical studies of natural products and food ingredients against oxidation stress, which may trigger cancer disease development and progression.
  • Interventional clinical studies of natural products and food ingredients targeting oxidative stress, which may cause cancer disease development and progression.
  • Pre-clinical studies, such as experimental in vivo animal studies as well as in vitro studies, that explore the molecular mechanisms of natural products and food ingredients through which they exert antioxidant and anti-cancer activities.
  • Natural and food ingredients that affect oxidative biomarkers, which may be associated with tumor pathophysiology.

Dr. Constantinos Giaginis
Dr. Efthymios Poulios
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • oxidative stress
  • cancer
  • disease prevention or therapy
  • oxidative biomarkers
  • quality of life
  • apoptosis
  • cell cycle arrest
  • antioxidant enzymes
  • reactive oxygen species

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

21 pages, 5175 KB  
Article
Carnosic Acid Activates the STING/IRF3 Pathway to Induce Nitric Oxide-Mediated Apoptosis in Osteosarcoma Cells
by Weixiong Guo, Lanlan Yin, Qiang Wu and Jiaqi Chu
Antioxidants 2026, 15(3), 374; https://doi.org/10.3390/antiox15030374 - 16 Mar 2026
Viewed by 678
Abstract
Osteosarcoma (OS) is a highly aggressive bone cancer with limited therapeutic options. Carnosic acid (CA), a phenolic diterpene with well-established antioxidant properties, has shown anticancer activity, yet its mechanisms in OS remain unclear. In this study, we found that CA suppressed proliferation and [...] Read more.
Osteosarcoma (OS) is a highly aggressive bone cancer with limited therapeutic options. Carnosic acid (CA), a phenolic diterpene with well-established antioxidant properties, has shown anticancer activity, yet its mechanisms in OS remain unclear. In this study, we found that CA suppressed proliferation and induced apoptosis in human osteosarcoma cells in a dose-dependent manner. Mechanistically, CA activated the STING/IRF3 signaling pathway and enhanced nitric oxide (NO) production, factors closely linked to redox modulation and mitochondrial apoptotic signaling. Pharmacological inhibition or siRNA-mediated knockdown of STING, as well as blockade of NO synthesis, significantly reduced CA-induced apoptosis in vitro. In a xenograft mouse model, CA treatment suppressed tumor growth, and this effect was partially reversed by STING inhibition. These findings suggest that CA exerts antitumor effects in OS through modulation of innate immune and redox-related signaling pathways, supporting its potential as a therapeutic compound that links antioxidant and immunomodulatory actions. Full article
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