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Department of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota 55108 [C. J. H., E. J. T., M. C. M., J. L. S.], and Division of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455 [W. T.]
| Abstract |
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-hydroxylated metabolites. Based on
proposed differences in biological activities, the ratio of these
metabolites, 2-hydroxyestrogen:16
-hydroxyestrone
(2:16
-OHE1), has been used as a biomarker for breast cancer risk.
Women with an elevated 2:16
-OHE1 ratio are hypothesized to be at a
decreased risk of breast cancer. Flaxseed, the most significant source
of plant lignans, and wheat bran, an excellent source of dietary fiber,
have both been shown to have chemoprotective benefits. Some of these
benefits may be attributable to their influence on endogenous sex
hormone production and metabolism. We examined the effect of flaxseed
consumption alone and in combination with wheat bran on urinary
estrogen metabolites in premenopausal women. Sixteen premenopausal
women were studied for four feeding treatments lasting two menstrual
cycles each in a randomized cross-over design. During the four feeding
treatments, subjects consumed their usual diets supplemented with baked
goods containing no flaxseed or wheat bran, 10 g of flaxseed,
28 g of wheat bran, or 10 g of flaxseed plus 28 g of
wheat bran/day. Urinary excretion of 2-hydroxyestrogen and
16
-hydroxyestrone, as well as their ratio, 2:16
-OHE1, were
measured by enzyme immunoassay. Flaxseed supplementation significantly
increased the urinary 2:16
-OHE1 ratio (P =
0.034), but wheat bran had no effect. These results suggest that
flaxseed may be chemoprotective in premenopausal women. | Introduction |
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-OHE1 (Fig. 1
|
In contrast, the 16
-OHE1 metabolite is proposed to be associated
with increased breast cancer risk attributable to its significant
estrogenic activity (9)
and its low binding affinity for
SHBG (15)
. In addition to being elevated in women with
breast cancer (16
, 17) , the 16
-OHE1 metabolite has been
shown to cause cell proliferation and DNA damage in mouse mammary cells
(18)
, to have significant uterotropic activity
(15)
, and to be positively correlated with mammary tumor
incidence in mice (19)
. Recent studies that showed that
urinary 16
-OHE1 is positively correlated with bone mass density in
postmenopausal women (20
, 21)
further support its proposed
estrogenic activity.
Because of the competing nature of the 2-hydroxylation and
16
-hydroxylation pathways, a ratio of the metabolites 2-OHEstrogen
and 16
-OHE1, 2:16
-OHE1, has been used as a biomarker for breast
cancer risk. Although the optimal level for the metabolite ratio is not
known, an increase in the ratio is considered protective. Recent
studies showing that the ratio is significantly decreased in women with
breast cancer (22, 23, 24, 25)
further support this hypothesis.
Certain factors have been shown to influence estrogen metabolism and
the 2:16
-OHE1 ratio. High-protein diets (26)
, low-fat
diets (27)
, consumption of broccoli (28)
, and
consumption of indole-3-carbinol (29, 30, 31)
, a compound
found in broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables, have all been shown
to increase the 2:16
-OHE1 ratio. Similarly, omega-3 fatty acid
consumption has been shown to decrease excretion of the
16
-hydroxylated metabolites (32)
, suggesting it may
also have protective effects.
F is the richest known source of lignans, one of the main classes of phytoestrogens (33, 34, 35) . On consumption, the main plant lignans, secoisolariciresinol and matairesinol, are metabolized by the intestinal microflora into the main mammalian lignans, enterodiol and enterolactone (36) . After absorption, lignans are conjugated with glucuronic acid and sulfate, are excreted in urine (37) and bile, and undergo enterohepatic recirculation (38) .
Lignans have been proposed to be chemoprotective because they have been
shown to stimulate SHBG synthesis (39)
, inhibit growth of
human mammary tumor cells (40)
, reduce mammary tumor
initiation (41)
, and inhibit aromatase (estrogen
synthetase) activity (42
, 43)
. Consumption of F has been
found to inhibit mammary tumor growth (44)
and to reduce
early markers of risk for mammary (45)
and colon
carcinogenesis (46
, 47)
. F also contains the omega-3 fatty
acid
-linolenic acid (48)
, which has been shown to
reduce mammary tumor growth (49
, 50)
and number
(51)
in animal studies.
Consumption of dietary fiber has also been proposed to be chemoprotective because of its influence on endogenous sex hormone levels (52) . In premenopausal women, dietary fiber reduced serum estrone and estradiol (53) and was negatively correlated with urinary estrogen excretion (54) and serum estradiol (55) . These effects may result from partial interruption of the enterohepatic circulation of estrogen (56) . WB, which is a concentrated source of insoluble dietary fiber, was found to reduce serum estrone and estradiol in premenopausal women (57) , increase serum LH in adult female rats (58) , and reduce early biomarkers of colon cancer risk in male rats (59) .
Although lignans and dietary fiber may influence endogenous sex hormone
production, little is known about how they interact or whether they
affect estrogen metabolism and the urinary 2:16
-OHE1 ratio in
premenopausal women. Thus, we chose to examine the effects of F
consumption alone and in combination with WB in premenopausal women. We
hypothesized that consumption of these components would increase
urinary 2-OHEstrogen excretion and the urinary 2:16
-OHE1 ratio,
thereby possibly offering some chemoprotective benefits.
| Materials and Methods |
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The mean values ± SD for age, height, weight, and BMI of the 16 subjects were 26.7 ± 5.7 years, 166.9 ± 6.0 cm, 63.3 ± 7.9 kg, and 22.6 ± 1.6 kg/m2, respectively.
Experimental Design.
The study design, approved by the Institutional Review Board: Human
Subjects Committee at the University of Minnesota, was a randomized,
cross-over trial consisting of four feeding treatments lasting two
menstrual cycles each, with no wash-out between treatments. Subjects,
who were randomly assigned to feeding treatments, consumed their
habitual diets plus a supplement of two baked goods (cookies or
muffins), which provided the following per day: Ctrl, no F or WB; F,
10 g; WB, 28 g; and WBF, 10 g of F plus 28 g of WB.
Daily nutrient content of the baked goods are presented in Table 1
. To maintain compliance, subjects were allowed to select their baked
goods from several choices for each diet treatment. This is reflected
by the macronutrient ranges in Table 1
.
|
Subjects picked up their baked goods weekly from the University of Minnesota Clinical Research Center and kept them frozen until just before consumption. They were instructed to consume them daily during at least two different sittings. Subject compliance was monitored by collecting and measuring any uneaten baked goods. Because of the high kilocalorie content of the baked goods, the subjects were encouraged to substitute them for similar items in their habitual diets to maintain their body weights.
Fourteen of the 16 subjects completed all four dietary treatments. One subject completed only dietary treatments of the Ctrl, F, and WBF and another completed only dietary treatments of the F, WB, and WBF because of personal schedule conflicts. Data for the feeding treatment these two subjects completed were included in analyses.
The subjects food intake was monitored during the urine collection times as described below by self-reported 3-day diet records. Body weights were also measured during these times. Diet analyses were performed with the Minnesota Nutrition Data System software, which was developed by the Nutrition Coordinating Center, University of Minnesota (Minneapolis, MN; Food Database version 6A, Nutrient Database 21, 1992; Ref. 63 ).
Sample Collection and Analysis.
During both menstrual cycles of each diet treatment, subjects performed
LH surge testing to detect ovulation using a commercial kit (OvuQuick
One-Step, Quidel Corp., San Diego, CA). Ovulation was defined as 1 day
after a LH surge. During the midluteal phase (days 6, 7, and 8 after
ovulation) of the second menstrual cycle of each diet treatment,
subjects completed three consecutive 24-h urine collections. Midluteal
phase collections were used because estrogen levels are higher during
this phase of the menstrual cycle (64, 65, 66, 67)
, possibly
enhancing the ability to detect differences between study treatments.
Urine was collected into 1-liter bottles containing 1 g of
ascorbic acid to preserve the estrogen metabolites (65
, 68)
. Urine was stored at 4°C until processed. Before
processing, the final volume of each 24-h urine collection was
measured, and an aliquot was frozen for subsequent creatinine analysis
to monitor the completeness of the collections. The three 24-h urine
collections were then pooled, and an aliquot was stored at -20°C
until analyzed.
Commercially available enzyme immunoassay kits (Estramet 2/16 Enzyme
Immunoassay Kit, Immuna Care, Bethlehem, PA; Ref. 69
) were
used to measure 2-OHEstrogen and 16
-OHE1 in the urine samples. These
assays are competitive solid-phase enzyme immunoassays that use high
affinity monoclonal antibodies. The monoclonal antibody to 2-OHEstrogen
is specific for all 2,3-hydroxylated estrogen metabolites, showing
100% reactivity with 2-OHE1 and 2-hydroxyestradiol, and 68%
reactivity with 2-hydroxyestriol. The monoclonal antibody to 16
-OHE1
shows 100% reactivity with 16
-OHE1 (69)
. Correlation
with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry for premenopausal samples has
produced Pearson correlations of 0.94, 0.96, and 0.93 for 2-OHEstrogen,
16
-OHE1, and the 2:16
-OHE1 ratio, respectively (70)
.
To perform the assays, the estrogen metabolites were first deconjugated
of glucuronic acid and sulfate by incubating the urine samples with
ß-glucuronidase and arylsulfatase. The samples, along with
competitive alkaline phosphatase conjugates, were then added to the
antibody-coated 96-well microtiter plates. Standards of 0.62520 ng/ml
were used in addition to in-house quality control samples. After the
plates were incubated and washed with Tris-buffered saline (pH
7.4)/0.05% Tween-20, paranitrophenyl phosphate was added as the enzyme
substrate, and the plates were read kinetically at 405 nm.
To eliminate interassay and lot-to-lot variability (65)
,
one kit lot was used for the entire study and all samples from each
subject were run in the same assay. All samples were run in triplicate,
and the results were averaged. Intra-assay coefficients of
variation based on in-house quality control samples were 6.7%, 5.0%,
and 8.0% for 2-OHEstrogen, 16
-OHE1, and the 2:16
-OHE1 ratio,
respectively. Interassay coefficients of variation were 8.9%, 15.0%,
and 14.5% for 2-OHEstrogen, 16
-OHE1, and the 2:16
-OHE1 ratio,
respectively.
Statistical Analysis.
Statistical analyses were performed using the Statistical Analysis
System (SAS Proprietary Software Release 6.12, SAS Institute Inc.,
Cary, NC). Data were normally distributed and were analyzed using a
repeated measure ANOVA within subject. Analyses were conducted to
determine differences between diet treatments as well as the main
effects from F and WB, the two factors in the two-by-two factorial
design. For all measurements, results were considered statistically
significant at P < 0.05.
| Results |
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-OHE1, and the 2:16
-OHE1
ratio are summarized in Tables 4
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-OHE1 ratio by 25.2% compared with the WB treatment
(P = 0.045). Analyses of the main effects of F and WB
showed that the two treatments containing F significantly increased the
2:16
-OHE1 ratio by 18.9% (P = 0.034; Table 5| Discussion |
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-OHE1 ratio
in premenopausal women during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle.
It also showed that consumption of 28 g of WB did not
significantly affect the luteal phase 2:16
-OHE1 ratio, nor did it
interact with the effect from ground F. These results suggest that F
contains components that may be protective against breast cancer in
premenopausal women.
Consumption of 10 g/day of F powder has been investigated in previous
human studies involving premenopausal women. It has been shown to
significantly increase urinary (71)
and fecal
(72)
excretion of lignans and to increase the length of
the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle (73)
, suggesting
that it has hormonal effects. Previous work in our laboratory
(74)
showed that the addition of 10 g of ground F to
the daily diets of postmenopausal women significantly raised total
urinary 2-OHEstrogen excretion and the 2:16
-OHE1 ratio. This
suggests that there are compounds in F capable of influencing estrogen
metabolism, particularly in the 2-hydroxylation pathway. The results
from the present study showed that F consumption resulted in a moderate
but nonsignificant increase in 2-OHEstrogen excretion, as well as a
significant increase in the 2:16
-OHE1 ratio during the luteal phase
of the menstrual cycle in premenopausal women. These results also
suggest F alters estrogen metabolism in the 2-hydroxylation pathway
preferentially over the 16
-hydroxylation pathway.
The F used in this study, Linola, is a low
-linolenic acid variety
(75)
. Because we fed F and not its isolated components, it
is not possible to identify the specific compound(s) responsible for
the observed results. However, our finding that Linola F influences
estrogen metabolism suggests that lignans rather than
-linolenic
acid may be the active component in F. This agrees with the findings
from previous work in our laboratory using traditional F
(74)
, which contains both lignans and
-linolenic
acid and was also found to influence estrogen metabolism.
Multiple cytochrome P-450 enzymes can catalyze the estrogen
2-hydroxylation step in mammals (76)
. Certain dietary
compounds have been shown to induce these enzymes, resulting in
increased production of estrogen metabolites along the 2-hydroxylation
pathway. In humans, consumption of 500 g/day of broccoli was shown to
induce the cytochrome P-450 enzyme CYP1A2, which is involved in estrone
2-hydroxylation (28)
. Consumption of indole-3-carbinol by
mice resulted in a dose-dependent increase in the cytochrome P-450
content of hepatic microsomes (77)
, suggesting that
indole-3-carbinol is one of the compound(s) in broccoli capable of
inducing cytochrome P-450 enzymes. In some animals, testosterone and
other steroids can induce certain cytochrome P-450 enzymes
(76)
. Given these findings and the structural similarity
of enterodiol and enterolactone to endogenous steroids, we propose that
these compounds may induce cytochrome P-450 enzymes involved in the
estrogen 2-hydroxylation pathway in humans. This is one possible
explanation for the observed effect of F on the urinary 2:16
-OHE1
ratio.
Because diets high in phytoestrogens also tend to be high in dietary
fiber, it can be difficult to distinguish between these components when
investigating biomarkers for cancer risk. We attempted to analyze these
separately by feeding 10 g of F as a source of lignans with little
dietary fiber (2 g), alone and in combination with 28 g of WB as a
high source of dietary fiber (10 g). Our finding that F significantly
increased the urinary 2:16
-OHE1 ratio, whereas WB had no effect,
suggests that components in F other than dietary fiber are responsible
for the effect.
We also found that WB did not interact with the effect of F on the
2:16
-OHE1 ratio. Tew et al. (78)
found that
a wheat fiber-supplemented diet containing 40 g of dietary fiber
reduced dietary absorption of the phytoestrogen genistein from tofu and
textured vegetable protein in premenopausal women. Other investigators
have shown that water-insoluble dietary fiber binds steroid hormones
in vitro (79)
. Based on these findings, we
anticipated that WB might interfere with lignan absorption from F,
which in turn would decrease any lignan-induced physiological effect.
However, our results do not support this hypothesis. It is possible
that 28 g of WB is insufficient to affect lignan absorption. It is
also possible that another component in F was responsible for the
increased 2:16
-OHE1 ratio.
Although lignans are present in other plant foods, such as legumes, whole cereals, fruits, and vegetables, F is by far the most significant source. By weight, mammalian lignan production from F meal is over 120 times higher than most legumes, over 180 times higher than most whole cereals, and over 260 times higher than most fruits and vegetables (35) . Therefore, it is very difficult for an individual to obtain the quantity of lignans supplied by 10 g of F by consuming other food sources.
Bradlow et al. (8
, 19)
have proposed that
altered estrogen metabolism exists before the onset of cancer and is
not a byproduct of it. This suggests that influencing the hormonal
environment in a protective fashion may help prevent cancer initiation.
The findings from our study suggest that daily consumption of 10 g
of ground F may offer some protection against breast cancer in some
premenopausal women by significantly increasing the urinary
2:16
-OHE1 ratio. Further research is required to understand the
biological mechanisms and the active compound(s) in F.
| Acknowledgments |
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| Footnotes |
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1 Supported by Grant 96-35200-3208 from the United
States Department of Agriculture and Grant M01-RR00400 from the
National Center for Research Resources, NIH. ![]()
2 To whom requests for reprints should be
addressed, at Department of Food Science and Nutrition, University of
Minnesota, 1334 Eckles Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55108. ![]()
3 The abbreviations used are: 2-OHEstrogen,
2-hydroxyestrogen; 2-OHE1, 2-hydroxyestrone; 16
-OHE1,
16
-hydroxyestrone; SHBG, sex hormone-binding globulin; 2:16
-OHE1,
2-hydroxyestrogen:16
-OHE1; LH, luteinizing hormone; BMI, body mass
index; Ctrl, control; F, flaxseed; WB, wheat bran; WBF, WB F. ![]()
Received 9/23/99; revised 4/12/00; accepted 4/29/00.
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