Endocrine disrupting activities of the flavonoid nutraceuticals luteolin and quercetin.

ABSTRACT: Dietary plant flavonoids have been proposed to contribute to cancer prevention, neuroprotection, and cardiovascular health through their anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, pro-apoptotic, and antiproliferative activities. As a consequence, flavonoid supplements are aggressively marketed by the nutraceutical industry for many purposes, including pediatric applications, despite inadequate understanding of their value and drawbacks. We show that two flavonoids, luteolin and quercetin, are promiscuous endocrine disruptors. These flavonoids display progesterone antagonist activity beneficial in a breast cancer model but deleterious in an endometrial cancer model. Concurrently, luteolin possesses potent estrogen agonist activity while quercetin is considerably less effective. These results highligh

SUBMITTER: Nordeen SK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3851288 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature