ANTI-INFLAMMATORY AND APOPTOSIS-STIMULATING PROPERTIES OF BIOACTIVE SUBSTANCES CONTAINED IN SWEET CLOVER AND CORN SILK IN THE PATHOGENESIS OF MALIGNANT CERVICAL TUMORS

Abstract

 Malignant cervical tumors are among the oncological diseases that pose a serious threat to women’s health. In their pathogenesis, high-risk oncogenic human papillomavirus infection, chronic inflammation, oxidative stress, weakened immune surveillance, cell-cycle disruption, and impairment of apoptotic mechanisms occupy a central place. In recent years, phytochemical sources, particularly sweet clover (Melilotus officinalis) and corn silk (Zea mays L. stigma), have attracted scientific interest because of the anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, immunomodulatory, and apoptosis-stimulating properties of their bioactive substances. Coumarins, flavonoids, phenolic acids, and saponins contained in sweet clover have been studied for their potential to reduce inflammatory mediators, support microcirculation, and decrease oxidative stress. Corn silk is rich in flavonoids, maysin, luteolin, polysaccharides, phenolic compounds, sterols, and trace elements, and in certain experimental studies its effects on NF-kB, PI3K/Akt, the caspase system, p53, and mitochondrial apoptotic pathways are discussed. This article analyzes the role of inflammation and apoptosis in the pathogenesis of malignant cervical tumors, the possible molecular mechanisms of bioactive compounds from sweet clover and corn silk, and their preventive and additional scientific-practical significance. The available evidence indicates that these plants should be evaluated not as independent therapeutic agents, but as phytobiological sources that may be studied in integration with evidence-based medicine, screening, HPV vaccination, and a healthy lifestyle.