Flavonoid-metal ion Complexes as Potent Anticancer Metallodrugs: A Comprehensive Review

Flavonoids and their analogous are mainly found in pink lady apples, green and black tea (catechins), celery and red peppers, onions, broccoli and spinach, berries, cherries, soybean, citrus fruits, and fungi. The different derivatives of flavonoids belonging to polyphenolic compounds such as 3,4',5,7-Tetrahydroxyflavylium (pelargonidin), 2-(3,4-Dihydroxyphenyl)chromenylium-3,5,7-triol (cyanidin), 3,3',4',5,5',7-Hexahydroxyflavylium (delphinidin), 3,3',4',5,7-Pentahydroxy-5'-methoxyflavylium (petunidin), and 3,4',5,7-Tetrahydroxy-3',5'-dimethoxyflavylium (malvidin) can act as good chelating agents for metal-chelate complex formation. These flavonoid-metal complexes have been reported to have various biomedical and pharmacological activities.

Flavonoid-metal ion complexes display a broad spectrum of biological properties such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-allergic, antiviral, anticarcinogenic, and cytotoxic activity. The literature survey showed that flavonoid metal complexes have potential therapeutic properties against various cancerous cells. The objective is to gain insight into the current perspective and development of novel anticancer metallodrugs.

The flavonoid-metal ion complexes can be prepared by reacting flavonoid ligand with appropriate metal salt in aqueous or alcoholic reaction medium under stirring or refluxing conditions. In this review article, the various reported methods for the synthesis of flavonoid-metal complexes have been included. The utility of synthetic methods for flavonoid-metal complexes will support the discovery of novel therapeutic drugs.

In this review study, short libraries of flavonoid-metal ion complexes were studied as potential anticancer agents against various human cancer cell lines. The review report reveals that metal ions such as Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Rh, Ru, Ga, Ba, Sn etc., when binding to flavonoid ligands, enhance the anticancer activity compared to free ligands. This review study covered some important literature surveys for the last two decades.

It has been concluded that flavonoid metal complexes have been associated with a wide range of biological properties that could be noteworthy in the medicinal field. Therefore, to develop a new anticancer drug, it is essential to determine the primordial interaction of drug with DNA under physiological or anatomical conditions. The study of numerous flavonoid metal complexes mentioned in this paper could be the future treatment against various cancerous diseases.