Extracts from Arabidopsis thaliana leaves and inflorescence stalks and from Lepidium sativa (Brassicaceae) seedlings were analysed by HPLC-MS-SIM and by five isoflavonoid-specific ELISA methods after the HPLC fractionation of samples, in order to determine presence of isoflavonoids. Individual ELISAs were specific for daidzein, genistein, biochanin A and for their derivatives substituted either...

A glycosyltransferase, YjiC, from Bacillus licheniformis has been used for the modification of the commercially available isoflavonoids genistein, daidzein, biochanin A and formononetin. The in vitro glycosylation reaction, using UDP-α-D-glucose as a donor for the glucose moiety and aforementioned four acceptor molecules, showed the prominent glycosylation at 4' and 7 hydroxyl groups, but not a...

Pterospartum tridentatum and Mentha pulegium are largely used in Portuguese folk medicine to treat several human disorders and inflammatory processes but without any consistent evidence for those beneficial pointed properties. Thus, the aim of the current work is to evaluate its benefits and phytochemicals related to those beneficial properties. A distinct polyphenol profile between P. tridenta...

Quinone reductase (QR) is a phase II detoxification enzyme that plays an important role in detoxifying quinones and may help maintain the antioxidant function of the cell. We have previously observed that QR is up-regulated by anti-oestrogens, but not oestrogen, in breast cancer cells via ERbeta (oestrogen receptor beta) transactivation. Such QR induction appears to protect breast cells against...

Raloxifene is extensively glucuronidated in humans, effectively reducing its oral bioavailability (2%). It was also reported to be glucuronidated in preclinical animals, but its effects on the oral bioavailability have not been fully elucidated. In the present study, raloxifene and its glucuronides in the portal and systemic blood were monitored in Gunn rats deficient in UDP-glucuronosyltransfe...

OBJECTIVE This study was undertaken to address the vascular effects of isolated isoflavones as potential contributors to their cardioprotective properties, focusing on biochanin and formononetin. METHODS AND RESULTS In a randomized, double-blind trial, 80 healthy subjects, 46 men and 34 women, 45 to 75 years of age, received isoflavones enriched in either biochanin or formononetin (precursors...