Source: Thailand Medical News Dec 16, 2019 4 years, 11 months, 5 days, 12 hours, 41 minutes ago
Contrary to popular believe that all plant
phytochemicals are healthy and good for the human body, there is a class of
phytochemicals known as
phytoestrogens that are not only
endocrine disruptors but they can also increase risk of certain
cancers. One such
phytoestrogen is
Coumestrol which is found in clover and alfalfa. It has garnered research interest because of its estrogenic activity and prevalence in some foods, including soybeans, brussels sprouts, spinach and a variety of legumes. The highest concentrations of
Coumestrol are found in clover, Kala Chana, a type of chick pea, and Alfalfa sprouts.
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Coumestrol is a
phytoestrogen, mimicking the biological activity of estrogens.
Phytoestrogens are able to pass through cell membranes due to their low molecular weight and stable structure, and they are able to interact with the enzymes and receptors of cells.
Coumestrol binds to the ERα and ERβ with similar affinity to that of estradiol (94% and 185% of the relative binding affinity of estradiol at the ERα and ERβ, respectively)
] although the estrogenic activity of
Coumestrol at both receptors is much less than that of estradiol. In any case,
Coumestrol has estrogenic activity that is 30 to 100 times greater than that of isoflavones.
A recent collaborative study lead by researchers from Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai showed that the consumption of
Coumestrol lead to a higher risk of developing
Thyroid Cancer.
The researchers analyzed data from a population-based case-control study in Connecticut in 2010-2011 including 387 histologically-confirmed
thyroid cancer cases and 433 population-based controls, with compound data available concerning specific PEs. Multivariate unconditional logistic regression models were used to estimate the associations between specific PEs and the risk of
thyroid cancer, adjusting for potential confounders.
An elevated risk of
thyroid cancer was associated with moderate to high levels of Coumestrol intake (OR = 2.48, 95% CI: 1.39-4.43 for 40-80 μg/day; OR = 2.41, 95% CI: 1.32-4.40 for 80-130 μg/day; and OR = 2.38, 95% CI: 1.26-4.50 for > 200 μg/day compared to < 40 μg/day), and the main elevation in risk appeared among microcarcinomas (≤ 1 cm). A decreased risk of papillary macrocarcinomas (> 1 cm; OR = 0.26, 95% CI: 0.08-0.85 for 1860-3110 μg/day compared to < 760 μg/day) was associated with moderate genistein intake among women.
The researchers told
Thailand Medical News that their study suggested that high
; Coumestrol intake increases the risk of thyroid cancer, especially microcarcinomas, while moderate amounts of genistein intake appear to be protective for females with thyroid macrocarcinomas.
Reference : Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2019 Dec 11. pii: cebp.0456.2019. doi: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-19-0456.
