Biomedical Applications of Humic Substances: From Natural Biopolymers to Therapeutic Agents
review Grade B 2025 Open access
Authors: Gvozdeva, Y., Peneva, P., Katsarov, P.
Journal: Antioxidants 14 (9) : 1139
Key Findings
- HS scavenge reactive oxygen species and modulate cytokine production
- HS inhibit viral fusion and promote wound healing
- HS enhance gut microbiota balance
- HA and FA exhibit anticancer activity by inducing apoptosis in tumor cells while protecting healthy tissues
- Chelating capacity underlies detoxifying activity and heavy metal binding
- HS have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antiviral, and immunomodulatory properties
- FA fraction is more bioavailable due to lower molecular weight and higher carboxyl group density
- Hymatomelanic acids (ethanol-soluble HA fraction) identified as distinct subclass
Comprehensive 2025 review summarizing biomedical applications of humic and fulvic acids. Covers antioxidant capacity (ROS scavenging), anti-inflammatory effects (cytokine modulation), antimicrobial activity, antiviral properties (viral fusion inhibition), immunomodulation, anticancer potential (apoptosis induction), wound healing promotion, gut microbiota modulation, and heavy metal detoxification via chelation. Funded by EU NextGenerationEU. Extensively references key prior work including Verrillo 2022, Trofimova 2021, and Błońska-Sikora 2024.
humic-substanceshumic-acidfulvic-acidreviewantioxidantanti-inflammatoryantimicrobialantiviralimmunomodulatoryanticancerwound-healing