Phytoestrogens are polyphenol, non-steroidal substances of plant origin, resembling 17β-estradiol in structure. These substances can act as either agonists or antagonists of oestrogen receptors α and β. Phytoestrogens are widely used to alleviate menopausal symptoms, such as hot flushes and night sweats. Most of the currently available products of plant origin registered to soften climacteric s...

BACKGROUND Dietary intake of phytoestrogens has been inversely associated to hormone-dependent cancers, such as prostate and breast cancers. Few studies have investigated the association between ovarian cancer and intake of phytoestrogens. We evaluated the associations between intake of phytoestrogens (isoflavonoids/lignans/coumestrol) and fiber (vegetable/cereal) and risk of ovarian cancer. ...

BACKGROUND Estrogen or phytoestrogens treatment has been suggested to improve cognitive function of the brain in postmenopausal women. However, there is lack of information on the mechanism of such treatment on the central nervous system. The present study aimed to determine the effects of estradiol and soy germ phytoestrogens on spatial memory performance in ovariectomized rats and to explore ...

background: phytoestrogens are a group of plants derived compounds with weekly estrogen effect that appear to have protective effects on metabolic and hormonal abnormalities of women with polycystic ovary syndrome (pcos). so the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of soy phytoestrogens on reproductive hormones and lipid profiles in pcos women. methods: in this quasi-randomized trial...

Phytoestrogens, plant food components with estrogen-like biological properties, are hypothesized to contribute to the 5-fold lower breast cancer incidence in Asian compared with Western countries (1). Isoflavones comprise the phytoestrogens most abundant in soy, the traditional staple food in Asia, and a recent meta-analysis concluded that there was a slight reduction in premenopausal breast ca...

The effects of soy phytoestrogens on Morris water maze (MWM) performance and neuronal cholinergic enzyme activities and immunoreactivity were studied in ovariectomized (OVX) rats. The rats were assigned to four groups fed control diet (CD), 3.9 mg/kg 17beta-estradiol diet (E2), 263.4 mg/kg soy phytoestrogens diet (SP1), and 526.9 mg/kg soy phytoestrogens diet (SP2). In the MWM task, escape late...

Androgens are transformed into aromatic estrogens by CYP450 aromatase in a three-step reaction consuming three equivalents of oxygen and three equivalents of NADPH. Estrogens are substrates for nuclear estrogen receptors (ERs) and play a key role in estrogen-dependent tumour cell formation and proliferation. Natural phytoestrogens are proved to be competitive inhibitors of aromatase enzyme at I...

Dietary phytoestrogens are well known to have potential hormonal effects owing to their interaction with estrogen receptors [1]. Abnormalities in reproductive health due to a high intake of phytoestrogens have been reported in several women [2,3]. Interestingly, genistein–a type of phytoestrogen–is known to have estrogenic properties, and various hormonal effects of this compound have been repo...

The chemical structure, classification, source, metabolism, physiological and health effects of plant phytoestrogens and mechanisms of their action are reviewed. The available knowledge suggests that phytoestrogens can affect a number of physiological and pathological processes related to reproduction, bone remodeling, skin, cardiovascular, nervous, immune systems and metabolism. Due to these e...