Bitter gourd (Momordica charantia) as an emerging therapeutic agent: Modulating metabolic regulation and cell signaling cascade

Abstract Bitter gourd (Momordica charantia) is a healthy and nutritious food with a unique bitter flavor and is broadly exploited in traditional medicine. Recently, preclinical studies have demonstrated that bitter gourd has potential efficacy to alter type II diabetes and inflammation, imparts radioprotection and hepatoprotection, affect immunomodulation related to metabolic abnormalities, and exerts therapeutic efficacy to combat against various malignancies. Recent research has focused on phytochemical constituents of bitter gourd that alter the metabolic abnormalities and cell signaling cascade of malignancies and metabolic disorders. Several mechanistic studies have shown that bitter gourd wields hypoglycemic potential in various ways such as inhibition of intestinal glucose uptake, downregulation of gluconeogenic enzymes, stimulation of glucose utilization in peripheral skeletal muscle, and insulin secretory function. The anticancer activities have been reported through the induction of apoptosis on cancer cells, the arrest of cell cycle, and inhibition of cancer stem cells, with the precise mechanisms of these effects yet to be mapped out. Importantly, bioactive components of bitter gourd are effective in targeting risk factors associated with metabolic disorders, at specific molecular sites and the related cell signaling cascade that may possibly pave the way toward fruitful metabolic disorder and tumor prevention. In this chapter, we focus on illustrating the efficacy of the various bioactive compounds of bitter gourd on metabolic disorders and tumor progression. We further elucidate the targeted molecular mechanistic actions of the inherent natural compounds of bitter gourd on metabolic enzymes and drug transporters causing metabolic alterations and induction of cell death pathways. This review highlights the efficiency of the multiple bioactivities of bitter gourd that include metabolic alteration and modulation of molecular and cellular targets. Since an all-inclusive review on the bitter gourd and its valuable attributes is lacking, our comprehensive review endeavors to accomplish and pave the way to gain a thorough understanding to develop modalities for personalized medicine and natural tools for the treatment of metabolic disorders and tumor prevention.