The use of dietary phyto-oestrogens as a possible option for the prevention of osteoporosis has raised considerable interest because of the increased concern about the risks associated with the use of hormone-replacement therapy. However, the evidence in support of a bone-sparing effect in post-menopausal women is still not sufficiently convincing. Most studies have been performed on soyabean i...

with oral conitraceptives. Without being able categorically to deny this possibility I think it unlikely for the following reasons. Retinol in human blood is predominantly bound to a specific transport-protedin known as the retinol-binding protein (RBP). Under physiological conditions RBP ibinds to prealbumin.4 The amount of free retinol is very small, indeed. Using a fluorescence assay5 measur...

When Truelove (1960) reported that oestrogens, in the form of stilboestrol, helped to heal duodenal ulcers, evidence of their value began to be sought in the Gastroenterological Department at the Central Middlesex Hospital (Connell, Fletcher, Jones, Langman, Lennard-Jones, and Pygott, 1966). The effect of oestrogens on patients with gastric ulcers was also examined, and in 1965 Doll, Hill, and ...

There has been a major interest in the drug treatment of osteoporosis and an increase in the number of drugs available in most countries. The ideal drug (one which increases or restores bone density and trabecular connectivity) is still not available. However, in patients with relatively preserved trabecular connectivity and moderately reduced bone density, several agents have shown substantial...

The growing interest in the role of phyto-oestrogens in human health has prompted scientists to evaluate the risk : benefit which would result from consuming high levels of these compounds at different stages of the life cycle. These compounds have been shown to exert a wide range of hormonal and non-hormonal activities in animals and in vitro, and these activities suggest plausible mechanisms ...

The binding sites of the oestrogen receptors alpha and beta have a structural requirement for ligands with two oxygen atoms (one of which is phenolic) spaced 11-12 A apart. They are open to many non-steroidal compounds, such as those from plants and the chemical industry. The importance of this interaction is the subject of current food safety research. This article examines the methods of asse...

In most mammalian species aromatase is encoded by a single gene (Cyp19), which contains 18 exons, nine of them being translated. In man, the presence of a biologically active aromatase and oestrogen receptors (ERalpha and ERbeta) has been reported in Leydig cells, and also in immature germ cells and ejaculated spermatozoa. Concerning aromatase, the amount of transcript and enzymatic activity ar...