Hexane extract of the seeds of Nigella sativa L. prevented pregnancy in Sprague-Dawley rats treated orally at 2 g/kg daily dose on days 1-10 post-coitum. Significant antifertility activity was also observed in its column fractions and subfractions. At contraceptive dose, the active hexane extract exhibited only mild uterotrophic activity comparable almost to 0.002 mg/kg dose of 17 varies; is di...

We tested some resin-based composites used in dentistry for their estrogenic activity. A sealant based on bisphenol-A diglycidylether methacrylate (bis-GMA) increased cell yields, progesterone receptor expression, and pS2 secretion in human estrogen-target, serum-sensitive MCF7 breast cancer cells. Estrogenicity was due to bisphenol-A and bisphenol-A dimethacrylate, monomers found in the base p...

Botanical dietary supplements contain multiple bioactive compounds that target numerous biological pathways. The lack of uniform standardization requirements is one reason that inconsistent clinical effects are reported frequently. The multifaceted biological interactions of active principles can be disentangled by a coupled pharmacological/phytochemical approach using specialized ("knock-out")...

Estrogenic compounds have been shown to be present in surface waters, leading to concerns over their possible presence in finished drinking waters. In this work, two in vitro human cell line bioassays for estrogenicity were used to evaluate the removal of estrogens through conventional drinking water treatment using a natural water. Bench-scale studies utilizing chlorine, alum coagulation, ferr...

Binding affinity between chemicals and the estrogen receptor (ER) serves as an indicator of the potential to cause endocrine disruption through this receptor-mediated endocrine pathway. Estimating ER-binding affinity is, therefore, one strategic approach to reducing the costs of screening chemicals for potential risks of endocrine disruption. While measuring ER binding with in vitro assays may ...

Endocrine disruptors can affect the endocrine system without directly interacting with receptors, for example, by interfering with the synthesis or metabolism of steroid hormones. The aromatase that converts testosterone to 17beta-estradiol is a possible target. In this paper we describe an assay that simultaneously detects aromatase inhibition and estrogenicity. The principle is similar to tha...

This paper evaluated the occurrence and removal efficiency of four selected phenolic endocrine disrupting chemicals (bisphenol A (BPA), octylphenol (OP), nonylphenol (NP) and diethylstilbestrol (DES)) in two drinking waterworks in Jiangsu province which take source water from Taihu Lake. The recombined yeast estrogen screen (YES) and liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) wer...

A wide range of chemicals derived from plant and human-made xenobiotics are reported to have hormonal activities. The present study was performed to examine the estrogenic effect of Kwao Keur, Pueraria mirifica (PM), that has been used as a rejuvenating folk medicine in Thailand, using recombinant yeast, MCF-7 cell proliferation and HepG2 cell transient transfection assay. In recombinant yeast ...