OBJECTIVE: Efforts to produce radioprotective agents of high potential are appropriate strategies for overcoming possible IR toxicity in organisms. The present research aims to evaluate the signaling pathways and mechanisms through which arbutin exerts radioprotective effects on organisms.
METHODS: The databases of PubMed, Web of Sciences, Google Scholar, and Scopus were searched to find studies that reported radioprotective effects for arbutin. Besides, the data were searched within the time period from 2010 to 2020.
RESULTS: Five research articles met our criteria, which were included in the analysis based on their relevance to the topic. The present systematic review provides conclusions about various mechanisms and pathways through which arbutin induces radioprotection.
CONCLUSIONS: Based on the relevant studies, various mechanisms can be proposed for inducing radioprotective effects by arbutin, including inhibition of oxidative stress, apoptosis, and inflammation.

BACKGROUND: Pears have been world-widely used as a sweet and nutritious food and a folk medicine for more than two millennia.
METHODS: We conducted a review from ancient literatures to current reports to extract evidence-based functions of pears.
RESULTS: We found that pears have many active compounds, e.g., flavonoids, triterpenoids, and phenolic acids including arbutin, chlorogenic acid, malaxinic acid, etc. Most of researchers agree that the beneficial compounds are concentrated in the peels. From various in vitro, in vivo, and human studies, the medicinal functions of pears can be summarized as anti-diabetic,-obese, -hyperlipidemic, -inflammatory, -mutagenic, and -carcinogenic effects, detoxification of xenobiotics, respiratory and cardio-protective effects, and skin whitening effects. Therefore, pears seem to be even effective for prevention from Covid-19 or PM2.5 among high susceptible people with multiple underlying diseases.
CONCLUSIONS: For the current or post Covid-19 era, pears have potential for functional food or medicine for both of communicable and non-communicable disease.

Cosmetic dermatology preparations such as bleaching agents are ingredients with skin-related biological activities for increasing and improving skin beauty. The possibility of controlling skin hyperpigmentation disorders is one of the most important research goals in cosmetic preparations. Recently, cosmetics containing herbal and botanical ingredients have attracted many interests for consumers of cosmetic products because these preparations are found safer than other preparations with synthetic components. However, high-quality trial studies in larger samples are needed to confirm safety and clinical efficacy of phytotherapeutic agents with high therapeutic index. Arbutin (p-hydroxyphenyl-β-d-glucopyranoside) is a bioactive hydrophilic polyphenol with two isomers including alpha-arbutin (4-hydroxyphenyl-α-glucopyranoside) and β-arbutin (4-hydroxyphenyl-β-glucopyranoside). It is used as a medicinal plant in phytopharmacy. Studies have shown that alpha-arbutin is 10 times more effective than natural arbutin. A comparison of IC50 values showed that α-arbutin (with concentration 2.0 mM) has a more potent inhibitory activity on human tyrosinase against natural arbutin (with higher concentration than 30 mM). A review of recent studies showed that arbutin could be beneficial in treatment of various diseases such as hyperpigmentation disorders, types of cancers, central nervous system disorders, osteoporosis, diabetes, etc. This study was designed to describe the therapeutic efficiencies of arbutin.

Breast cancer is the heterogeneous disease and leading cause of death in women, worldwide. It is generally caused by the perturbation of various signaling pathways responsible for cell apoptosis. Due to genetic variability, different signaling pathways are disrupted in different breast cancer patients; so, to overcome this multifaceted condition, the personalized treatment is preferred. Since, various potential targets exist in breast cancer cells; it raised the need of new prospective of lead compounds. A large number of evidences show that, due to the presence of various secondary metabolites in plants, natural compounds are frequently examined for search of new bioactive molecules. This review includes the pathological aspects of breast cancer and the effect of natural compounds on breast cancer cells along with their possible mechanism of action. (Databases searched were PubMed, Science Direct, Web of Knowledge, Scopus, and Google Scholar).