Effect of flaxseed consumption on urinary estrogen metabolites in postmenopausal women

Carol J. Haggans, Andrea M. Hutchins, B. Amy Olson, William Thomas, Margaret C. Martini, Joanne L Slavin

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

97 Scopus citations

Abstract

Flaxseed, the richest known source of plant lignans, has been shown to have chemoprotective effects in animal and cell studies. Some of its effects may be mediated through its influence on endogenous hormone production and metabolism. Two competing pathways in estrogen metabolism involve production of the 2-hydroxylated and 16α-hydroxylated metabolites. Because of the proposed differences in biological activities of these metabolites, the balance of the two pathways has been used as a biomarker for breast cancer risk. We examined the effects of flaxseed consumption on urinary estrogen metabolite excretion in postmenopausal women. Twenty-eight postmenopausal women were studied for three seven-week feeding periods in a randomized crossover design. During the feeding periods, subjects consumed their usual diets plus ground flaxseed (0, 5, or 10 g/day). Urinary excretion of the estrogen metabolites 2-hydroxyestrogen (2-OHEstrogen) and 16α- hydroxyestrone (16α-OHE1) as well as their ratio, 2/16α-OHE1, was measured by enzyme immunoassay. Flaxseed supplementation significantly increased urinary 2-OHEstrogen excretion (p < 0.0005) and the urinary 2/16α-OHE1 ratio (p < 0.05) in a linear, dose-response fashion. There were no significant differences in urinary 16α-OHE1 excretion. These results suggest that flaxseed may have chemoprotective effects in postmenopausal women.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)188-195
Number of pages8
JournalNutrition and Cancer
Volume33
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 1999

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The authors thank the Sisters of the Order of St. Benedict (St. Joseph, MN) for their participation, dedication, and support of the research study, Dr. Kenneth D. R. Setchell for conducting the lignan analysis of the ground flaxseed, Desireé Nichols and Michelle Ethun for entering dietary intake data, and Bridgette Wagener, Michelle Ethun, and Laura Marti for distributing flax and collecting diet records and urine samples. This research was funded by National Cancer Institute Grant CA-66675-01. Address reprint requests to Dr. Joanne L. Slavin, Dept. of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Minnesota, 1334 Eckles Ave., St. Paul, MN 55108.

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