The potential for the extraction of the plant lignan hydroxymatairesinol (HMR) in large scale from Norway spruce (Picea abies) has given us the opportunity to study the metabolism and biological actions of HMR in animals. HMR, the most abundant single component of spruce lignans, was metabolized to enterolactone (ENL) as the major metabolite in rats after oral administration. The amounts of urinary ENL increased with the dose of HMR (from 3 to 50 mg/kg), and only minor amounts of unmetabolized HMR isomers and other lignans were found in urine. HMR (15 mg/kg body wt po) given for 51 days decreased the number of growing tumors and increased the proportion of regressing and stabilized tumors in the rat dimethylbenz[a]anthracene-induced mammary tumor model. HMR (50 mg/kg body wt) did not exert estrogenic or antiestrogenic activity in the uterine growth test in immature rats. HMR also showed no antiandrogenic responses in the growth of accessory sex glands in adult male rats. Neither ENL nor enterodiol showed estrogenic or antiestrogenic activity via a classical alpha- or beta-type estrogen receptor-mediated pathway in vitro at < 1.0 microM. HMR was an effective antioxidant in vitro.

No abstract

Our previous studies have shown that transgenic male mice expressing human P450 aromatase (AROM+) are infertile. In the present study, we followed the testis phenotype up to 15 months of age in these mice. The testes of the old AROM+ mice showed Leydig cell hypertrophy and hyperplasia, as indicated by the staining for steroidogenic enzymes and androgen and estrogen receptors. However, the Leydig cell adenomas did not show signs of malignization. In contrast, we observed a marked increase in the number of activated macrophages in the testicular interstitium of the aging AROM+ mice. The macrophages were further shown to express high levels of CD68 (a monocyte/macrophage marker) and secrete TNFalpha, indicating strong activation, presumably by estrogen exposure. The increased activity of the macrophages was associated with Leydig cell depletion (analyzed at the age of 9 and 15 months) and an increased number of mast cells and fibrosis in the testicular interstitium. Interestingly, similar findings have been made in testes of infertile men. Hence, the aging AROM+ males present with a phenocopy of inflammation-associated infertility in men, providing a model for further studies on the putative link among estrogens, orchitis, and infertility.

No abstract

Dietary estrogens are believed to exert their estrogenic or antiestrogenic (chemopreventive) action in estrogen responsive cells by interacting with the estrogen receptor (ER). The present study was undertaken to evaluate a direct role of ER in estrogenic or antiestrogenic activities of three dietary estrogens (coumestrol, genistein and zearalenone). HeLa cells were transiently co-transfected with an expression vector for ER and an estrogen-responsive reporter gene construct. Coumestrol, genistein, and zearalenone all increased the activity of the reporter gene, only in the presence of the ER, and the activation was blocked with the ER antagonist ICI 164,384, demonstrating an ER-specific, agonist response. In addition, in MCF-7 cells, coumestrol and zearalenone increased the expression of the estrogen-responsive pS2 gene. Coumestrol and genistein inhibited the purified estrogen-specific 17ß-hydroxysteroid oxidoreductase enzyme and the conversion of estrone to 17ß-estradiol in T-47D cells, which contain this enzyme. However, they did not inhibit the estrone-induced proliferation of T-47D cells. In conclusion, coumestrol, genistein, and zearalenone are all potent estrogens in vitro, and they act through ER mediated mechanism. Our findings give no evidence to support the idea that these compounds act as antiestrogens through competition for the binding sites of ER or by inhibition of the conversion of estrone to 17ß-estradiol in breast cancer cells, since this effect was nullified by their agonist action on cell proliferation. Therefore, their suggested chemopreventive action in estrogen-related cancers must be mediated through other mechanisms.ImagesFigure 2. AFigure 2. BFigure 2. CFigure 2. DFigure 2. EFigure 3. AFigure 3. BFigure 4. AFigure 4. BFigure 4. CFigure 4. DFigure 4. EFigure 5.Figure 6.Figure 7.Figure 8.Figure 9. AFigure 9. BFigure 9. C