curcumin and 2-3-bis(3--hydroxybenzyl)butyrolactone

Polyphenols (PPH) are a group of chemical substances found in plants, characterized by the presence of more than one phenol unit . The largest and best studied polyphenols are the flavonoids, which include several thousand compounds. PPH are the most abundant antioxidants in human diets. Their sheer mass in the diet exceeds that of the consumed vitamins. The Mediterranean diet is rich in PPH because it contains abundant vegetables, fruits, unrefined cereals, legumes, nuts, garlic, olive oil and red wine. Locations where the Mediterranean diet prevails are known for a reduced premature cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality. However, this geographic distinction is not entirely unique. Low CVD mortality is also present in countries with high consumption if plant food and fish, as Scandinavia, Switzerland and Austria. Putative mechanisms of the metabolic effect of PPH are related to multiple biologic functions that may have beneficial effect in the prevention of some inflammation-mediated disorders, including CVD. Naturally occurring dietary PPH can directly scavenge free oxygen radicals, adhesion molecules, and growth factor receptor genes. Thus, these polyphenolic compounds have potential therapeutic value as antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agents in CVD. PPH reduce the generation of oxidized low density lipoproteins (LDL), induce nitric oxide (NO) production, inhibit platelet aggregation and downregulate expression of proinflammatory mediators (Fig. 6, Tab. 1, Ref. 33).

Topics: 4-Butyrolactone; Anti-Inflammatory Agents; Antioxidants; Cardiovascular Diseases; Curcumin; Diet, Mediterranean; Humans; Lignans; Plants; Polyphenols; Resveratrol; Stilbenes

Several secondary metabolites from herbal nutrient products act as weak estrogens (phytoestrogens), competing with endogenous estrogen for binding to the estrogen receptors and inhibiting steroid converting enzymes. However, it is still unclear whether these compounds elicit estrogen dependent transcription of genes at physiological concentrations.. We compare the effects of physiological concentrations (100 nM) of the two phytoestrogens Enterolactone and Quercetin and the suspected phytoestrogen Curcumin on gene expression in the breast cancer cell line MCF7 with the effects elicited by 17-beta-estradiol (E2).. All three phytocompounds have weak effects on gene transcription; most of the E2 genes respond to the phytoestrogens in the same direction though to a much lesser extent and in the order Curcumin > Quercetin > Enterolactone. Gene regulation induced by these compounds was low for genes strongly induced by E2 and similar to the latter for genes only weakly regulated by the classic estrogen. Of interest with regard to the treatment of menopausal symptoms, the survival factor Birc5/survivin and the oncogene MYBL1 are strongly induced by E2 but only marginally by phytoestrogens.. This approach demonstrates estrogenic effects of putative phytoestrogens at physiological concentrations and shows, for the first time, estrogenic effects of Curcumin.

Topics: 4-Butyrolactone; Cell Line, Tumor; Curcumin; Estradiol; Gene Expression Profiling; Humans; Inhibitor of Apoptosis Proteins; Lignans; Microtubule-Associated Proteins; Phytoestrogens; Proto-Oncogene Proteins; Quercetin; Reference Values; Survivin; Trans-Activators; Transcription, Genetic