Controversies concerning the use of phytoestrogens in menopause management: Bioavailability and metabolism

de Cremoux, Patricia; This, Pascale; Leclercq, Guy; Jacquot, Yves

doi:10.1016/j.maturitas.2009.12.019

« Previous Next »Maturitas
Volume 65, Issue 4 , Pages 334-339, April 2010

Controversies concerning the use of phytoestrogens in menopause management: Bioavailability and metabolism

Patricia de Cremoux
- Unité de Pharmacologie Moléculaire, Institut Curie, 26 rue d’Ulm, 75248 Paris Cedex 05, France
Pascale This
- Pôle Sénologie, Institut Curie, 26 rue d’Ulm, 75248 Paris Cedex 05, France
- Centre de la Femme, Hôpital de Versailles, 177 rue de Versailles, 78157 Le-Chesnay Cedex, France
Guy Leclercq
- Laboratoire J.-C. Heuson de Cancérologie Mammaire, Université Libre de Bruxelles (U.L.B.), Institut Jules Bordet, 1000 Brussels, Belgium
Yves Jacquot
- Laboratoire des BioMolécules, CNRS – UMR 7203, Case Courrier 45, Université Pierre et Marie Curie Paris 6, 4 Place Jussieu, 75252 Paris Cedex 05, France
- Laboratoire des BioMolécules, CNRS – UMR 7203, Ecole Normale Supérieure, 24 rue Lhomond, 75231 Paris Cedex 05, France
- Corresponding author at: Laboratoire des BioMolécules, CNRS – UMR 7203, Département de Chimie, Ecole Normale Supérieure (ENS), 24 rue Lhomond, 75231 Paris Cedex 05, France. Tel.: +33 0 1 44 32 24 48; fax: +33 0 1 44 27 38 43.

Received 22 October 2009; received in revised form 18 December 2009; accepted 18 December 2009. published online 05 January 2010.

Abstract

It has been proposed that the use of phytoestrogens (PE) in menopausal therapy could be beneficial to woman health, particularly with respect to hot flushes. Indeed, PE may compensate the lack of endogenous 17β-estradiol occurring during menopause. However, therapeutic benefits remain questionable, as highlighted by recent publications. Indeed, data are often subjected to controversy since a number of exogenous and endogenous factors influencing the responsiveness of patients are not sufficiently taken into account. In the present paper, we will discuss the role of bioavailability and metabolism in the instability of individual response to PE.

Keywords: Bioavailability, Metabolism, Phytoestrogens, Menopause