Phytoestrogens: perpetrators or protectors?
2007
Phytoestrogens are estrogen-like substances produced by plants that account for some of the constituents present in vegetation that may be responsible for the health benefits of a diet rich in fruit and vegetables. Phytoestrogens have a plethora of different actions that they are capable of exerting on cellular metabolism. This review will focus on some of the major nonestrogen receptor-mediated cellular effects used by phytoestrogens and will draw attention to the fact that while they may have a number of beneficial effects, particularly in offering a protective effect against some hormone-dependent cancers, such as breast and prostate cancer, they may also have possible unfavorable effects by interfering with the functioning of normal cellular activities such as receptor-mediated signal transduction and DNA replication, as well as being genotoxic, mutagenic and promoting the proliferation of some cancer cells.
Keywords:
- Correction
- Source
- Cite
- Save
- Machine Reading By IdeaReader
137
References
22
Citations
NaN
KQI