The Potential Toxic Side Effects of Flavonoids

[摘要] Flavonoids are a class of phytochemical molecules abundant in many plants, fruits, vegetables, and leaves.Flavonoids possess a series of significant biological activities, including anticancer, antioxidant, antiviral, and antiinflammatory properties. They become an important source of dietary supplements and natural health products.Though many studies confirmed the safety of flavonoids, the potential toxicity of flavonoids is still a remarkable fieldof research to be explored. The enthusiasm for flavonoids expressed by the public has sometimes overlooked theirtoxicity and also consumed the flavonoids exceeding the body requirements. The current review focused on thepotential toxicity of flavonoids to make the public consume flavonoids with caution. This review summarizes thecurrent toxicity which has been reported in vivo and in vitro experiments. The toxicity involves carcinogenicity andmutation, liver and kidney toxicity, and the influence on the thyroid and reproductive function and intestinal floradisorders. The mechanism of toxicity is fully complicated, and current evidence indicates that natural flavonoidglycosides act on different targets with different doses in vivo and in vitro experiments. Though most kinds offlavonoids are considered safe, flavonoids proposed as food supplements need to be assessed their tolerable upperintake level as there have been reports of toxic flavonoids.

[学科分类] 仪器

[关键词] Flavonoids;Food supplements;Toxicity;Safety assessment