Enterolignans (enterodiol and enterolactone) can potentially reduce the risk of certain cancers and cardiovascular diseases. Enterolignans are formed by the intestinal microflora after the consumption of plant lignans. Until recently, only secoisolariciresinol and matairesinol were considered enterolignan precursors, but now several new precursors have been identified, of which lariciresinol an...

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer of men in the Western world, and novel approaches for prostate cancer risk reduction are needed. Plant-derived phenolic compounds attenuate prostate cancer growth in preclinical models by several mechanisms, which is in line with epidemiological findings suggesting that consumption of plant-based diets is associated with low risk of prostate cancer. The...

BACKGROUND Because olive oil is an important component of the Mediterranean diet, it is necessary to establish unequivocal identification of the major potential antioxidant phenolic compounds it contains. METHODS The major phenolic antioxidants in extra virgin olive oil were isolated and purified. Structural analysis was conducted using several spectroscopic techniques, including mass spectro...

Flavonoids and lignans are polyphenol classes with anticarcinogenic activities against colorectal cancer (CRC). However, very limited epidemiological evidence exists on their effects on CRC prognosis. This study aimed to evaluate the association between flavonoid and lignan intakes with the risk of CRC recurrence and overall survival in CRC patients. The study followed incident histologically c...

Because many diseases of the Western Hemisphere are hormone-dependent cancers, we have postulated that the Western diet, compared to a vegetarian or semivegetarian diet, may alter hormone production, metabolism, or action at the cellular level by some biochemical mechanisms. Recently, our interest has been mainly focused on the cancer-protective role of some hormonelike diphenolic phytoestrogen...

BACKGROUND Plant lignans are converted to enterolignans that have antioxidant and weak estrogen-like activities, and therefore they may lower cardiovascular disease and cancer risks. OBJECTIVE We investigated whether the intakes of 4 plant lignans (lariciresinol, pinoresinol, secoisolariciresinol, and matairesinol) were inversely associated with coronary heart disease (CHD), cardiovascular di...

Schisandra chinensis (S. chinensis) is a traditional Chinese herbal medicine widely used for the treatment of liver disease, whose main active components are lignans. However, the action mechanisms of the lignans in S. chinensis remain unclear. This study aimed to investigate the protective effect and related molecular mechanism of Schisandra lignan extract (SLE) against carbon tetrachloride- (...

Dietary phytoestrogens are suggested to reduce the risk of prostate and colorectal cancer, but the results of epidemiologic studies have not yielded consistent support for this proposed effect, possibly due to inadequate databases of phytoestrogen levels in foods. Biomarkers of phytoestrogen intakes may provide a clearer insight into the relationship between phytoestrogen exposure and the risk ...

The ripened fruits of Schisandra chinensis (Turcz.) Baill., called Schisandrae Chinensis Fructus, are commonly used in traditional herbal medicine with a long history. The lignan constituents, especially the dibenzocyclooctadiene-type lignans, are mostly responsible for the biological and pharmacological effects of this herbal medicine. In this paper, a new micellar electrokinetic capillary chr...

Three new lignans, ficusal (1) and ficusesquilignans A (2), B (3) and one new gamma-lactone, ficusolide diacetate (4), were isolated from the wood of Ficus microcarpa L.f. Their structures were determined by spectral evidence.