Fundamentals for the repurposing of hydralazine as an anti-neoplastic drug
Former Medical Director of the Hospital del Centro Gallego de Buenos Aires.
Research Article
World Journal of Advanced Pharmaceutical and Life Sciencess, 2023, 05(01), 012–023.
Article DOI: 10.53346/wjapls.2023.5.1.0075
Publication history:
Received on 26June 2023; revised on 31 August 2023; accepted on 02 September 2023
Abstract:
Hydralazine (HDZ) is a drug patented in 1949 that has been used for the treatment of arterial hypertension since 1953. New and better anti-hypertensive drugs have almost moved HDZ into oblivion. Interestingly, anti-cancer effects were found and this drug is seriously being considered for repurposing it for cancer treatment. The main mechanism of action against tumors seems to be its ability to act as a demethylator agent. By demethylating the promoter region of tumor suppressor genes HDZ seems to restore the effects of these genes, which are frequently inhibited in cancer through epigenetic mechanisms. However, HDZ also has some other important involved mechanisms such as anti-angiogenesis, and reversal of resistance to imatinib. Particularly important is its ability to restore the activity of non-mutated p16 in cancer. HDZ ability to inhibit glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase 1 is a recent finding that will probably add further interest to the drug in cancer treatment. This review analyzes the anti-tumoral effects of HDZ.
Keywords:
Hydralazine; Cancer; Valproate; DNA methyltransferases
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Copyright © 2023 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article. This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Liscense 4.0