Soy isoflavones interact with calcium and contribute to blood pressure homeostasis in women: a randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled trial.

Background: Estrogens and calcium regulate vascular health but caused adverse cardiovascular events in randomized trials.

Objectives: Whether phytoestrogenic soy isoflavones modulate the physiological effects of calcium on blood pressure was explored.

Design: A double-blind, randomized study assigned 99 premenopausal women to 136.

Daidzein and genistein have differential effects in decreasing whole body bone mineral density but had no effect on hip and spine density in premenopausal women: A 2-year randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study.

Soy isoflavones are potentially beneficial phytoestrogens, but their tissue-selective effects in women are poorly understood. We tested the hypothesis that soy isoflavones affect bone mineral density (BMD), which may be influenced by individual differences in isoflavone metabolism and serum calcium levels. Ninety-nine healthy premenopausal women were randomized to isoflavones (136.

Novel effects of phytoestrogenic soy isoflavones on serum calcium and chloride in premenopausal women: A 2-year double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study.

Background: Soy phytoestrogens are potential alternatives to postmenopausal hormone replacement therapy (HRT). Adverse effects of HRT such as myocardial infarction, stroke, and pulmonary embolism are mediated by calcium-induced signaling.

Objective: To determine whether soy isoflavones affect serum calcium in healthy female subjects.

Similarity of fibroglandular breast tissue content measured from magnetic resonance and mammographic images and by a mathematical algorithm.

Women with high breast density (BD) have a 4- to 6-fold greater risk for breast cancer than women with low BD. We found that BD can be easily computed from a mathematical algorithm using routine mammographic imaging data or by a curve-fitting algorithm using fat and nonfat suppression magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data. These BD measures in a strictly defined group of premenopausal women providing both mammographic and breast MRI images were predicted as well by the same set of strong predictor variables as were measures from a published laborious histogram segmentation method and a full field digital mammographic unit in multivariate regression models.

Alkaline phosphatase and percentage body fat predict circulating C-reactive protein in premenopausal women.

C-reactive protein (CRP) is considered a marker of inflammation, which is a risk factor for many chronic diseases. However, determinants of CRP remain unclear and were studied in a strictly defined cohort of healthy premenopausal women (n=233) using multiple regression models. Independent predictors of serum CRP (model R(2)=0.

Dietary beta-tocopherol and linoleic acid, serum insulin, and waist circumference predict circulating sex hormone-binding globulin in premenopausal women.

Reduced levels of circulating sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) are implicated in the etiology of sex steroid-related pathologies and the metabolic syndrome. Dietary correlates of serum SHBG remain unclear and were studied in a convenient cross-sectional sample of healthy 30- to 40-y-old women (n = 255). By univariate analyses, serum SHBG correlated negatively with several indices of the metabolic syndrome, such as BMI, waist circumference, hip circumference (r = -0.

Increased secretion of amylin in women with polycystic ovary syndrome.

Objective: To investigate amylin secretion in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).

Design: Prospective, case-control study.

Setting: Academic institution.

Lean body mass, not estrogen or progesterone, predicts peak bone mineral density in premenopausal women.

Estrogen and body fat content are important predictors of bone mineral density (BMD) in postmenopausal women, but their association with BMD in premenopausal women is less clear. Mounting evidence suggests that dietary fats can have detrimental effects on bone health. In a cross-sectional sample of healthy 30- to 40-y-old women (n = 242), we investigated the predictors of BMD at the hip and spine by multilevel multiple regression analyses.

Peripubertal hyperinsulinemia upregulates phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/akt pathway in rat ovaries.

Objective: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) usually develops during peripuberty and is often associated with hyperinsulinemia. Paradoxically, hyperinsulinemic patients with PCOS develop peripheral insulin resistance but retain ovarian insulin sensitivity. We investigated the effect of peripubertal hyperinsulinemia on insulin signaling pathways in rat ovaries.

Dietary intake of lactose as a strong predictor for secretor status of nipple aspirate fluid in healthy premenopausal nonlactating women.

Purpose: Nipple aspirate fluid (NAF) is considered a potential source for discovering breast cancer biomarkers. However, the success rate of obtaining NAF was reported to vary from 48% to 77%, and mechanisms for its secretion are not fully understood. The purpose of this study was to investigate dietary, demographic, reproductive, hormonal, and anthropometric factors that are associated with the ability to obtain NAF by aspiration (secretor status) from premenopausal women.

Progesterone-mediated regulation of catechol-O-methyl transferase expression in endometrial cancer cells.

The effects of estrogen and progesterone on the expression of estrogen-metabolizing enzymes such as catechol-O-methyl transferase (COMT) are not known. COMT converts genotoxic catecholestrogens to anticarcinogenic methoxyestrogens in the endometrium. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of progesterone on COMT expression in well-differentiated endometrial cancer cells.

Regulation of catechol O-methyltransferase expression in granulosa cells: a potential role for follicular arrest in polycystic ovary syndrome.

Objective: To investigate the regulation of catechol O-methyltransferase (COMT) expression in granulosa cells and assess potential effects of 2-methoxyestradiol (2-ME2) and COMT inhibitors on granulosa cell steroidogenesis and proliferation.

Design And Setting: Controlled experimental study in an academic research laboratory.

Intervention(s): JC410 porcine and HGL5 human granulosa cell lines were used for in vitro experiments.

Effects of raloxifene on insulin sensitivity, beta-cell function, and hepatic insulin extraction in normal postmenopausal women.

Objective: To investigate the effect of raloxifene on insulin sensitivity, beta-cell function, hepatic insulin clearance, and glucose tolerance in postmenopausal women.

Design: Prospective study.

Setting: University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Texas.

Lower levels of urinary 2-hydroxyestrogens in polycystic ovary syndrome.

Context: Women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) have anovulation due to arrested follicular maturation. The substrate (2-hydroxyestrogen) and product (2-methoxyestrogen) of catechol-O-methyl transferase (COMT) have been shown to modulate proliferation and angiogenesis of granulosa cells.

Objective: The objective of the study was to evaluate COMT ovarian expression as well as the production of estrogen metabolites (2-hydroxyestrogen and 2-methoxyestrogen) in subjects with PCOS.

Extended culture of human spermatozoa in the laboratory may have practical value in the assisted reproductive procedures.

Spermatozoa were cultured in vitro to monitor time-dependent changes in motility, viability, morphology, and membrane integrity. The degree of preservation of these clinically relevant sperm parameters over time was satisfactory. Extended culture probably can be used as a transient storage for sperm to compensate for a male's inability to produce sperm to synchronize oocyte retrieval in assisted reproduction.

Expression and cyclic variations of catechol-O-methyl transferase in human endometrial stroma.

Objective: To investigate the role of catechol-O-methyl transferase (COMT) in the regulation of estrogen metabolism in human endometrium.

Design: Laboratory study.

Setting: Academic research laboratory.

Calcitonin gene-related peptide (CALCA) is a proangiogenic growth factor in the human placental development.

Recent studies have shown that homozygous knockout of gene for calcitonin gene-related peptide (CALCA) receptor component, calcitonin receptor-like receptor (CALCRL), led to extreme hydrops fetalis and embryonic death, underlining the critical role of CALCA in embryonic development and fetal growth. The present study was designed to determine the cellular localization of CALCA and its receptor components, CALCRL and receptor activity modifying protein 1 (RAMP1), at the human implantation site during early pregnancy; to assess whether CALCA regulates in vitro angiogenesis of human endothelial cells; and to examine whether CALCA can improve angiogenic imbalance in preeclamptic placental explants. Our studies demonstrated that both protein and mRNA for CALCA were expressed by the villous and extravillous trophoblasts and decidual cells in the first-trimester villous tissues.

A strong association between body fat mass and protein profiles in nipple aspirate fluid of healthy premenopausal non-lactating women.

Fluid can be aspirated from the nipples of most non-lactating women. This nipple aspirate fluid (NAF) is a potential source for the discovery of new breast cancer biomarkers. NAF has two distinct protein profiles.

Serum soluble leptin receptor levels and free leptin index in women with polycystic ovary syndrome: relationship to insulin resistance and androgens.

Objective: To evaluate levels of soluble receptor (sOB-R) and free leptin in women with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) and note any relationships with insulin resistance, adiposity, and androgens. Leptin is an adipokine that circulates in a free form and bound to an sOB-R. Only free leptin is biologically active.

Ovarian dysfunction in peripubertal hyperinsulinemia.

Objective: Increasing evidence suggests that hyperinsulinemia plays an important role in the pathogenesis of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). However, the timing for the onset of hyperinsulinemia is not clear. The objective of this study was to examine the effect of peripubertal hyperinsulinemia on the maturing female reproductive axis.

Effect of a soymilk supplement containing isoflavones on urinary F2 isoprostane levels in premenopausal women.

Epidemiological studies have associated soy diets with reduced risk of breast and some other cancers, and oxidative cellular damage may contribute to the development of these and other diseases. We tested the effect of a soymilk supplement rich in isoflavones on a measure of cellular lipid peroxidation in a controlled feeding study. Eight premenopausal women consumed a constant diet that included soymilk containing 113-207 mg/day total isoflavones and 4 mo later a constant soy diet low (<5 mg/day) in isoflavones, both for a complete menstrual cycle.

Adverse effects of methylphenidate on the reproductive axis of adolescent female rats.

Objective: To examine the effects of chronic methylphenidate use on the reproductive axis of adolescent female rats.

Design: Controlled prospective study.

Setting: University research laboratory.

Decreased circulating levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha in postmenopausal women during consumption of soy-containing isoflavones.

Context: TNF-alpha is a key mediator of inflammatory responses and may play a pivotal role in the development of cancer and in bone resorption.

Objective: This study determined the effect of soy rich in isoflavones on levels of TNF-alpha.

Design: Twelve postmenopausal women ingested a 36-oz portion of soymilk containing isoflavones daily for 16 wk and provided fasting blood samples multiple times before, during, and after soy consumption for the analyses of cytokines and monocyte content.

Adiponectin levels in women with polycystic ovary syndrome and severe insulin resistance.

Objective: Adiponectin is an adipokine that is decreased in obesity and type 2 diabetes. Women with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) are obese and are at risk for type 2 diabetes. The objective of the current study was to investigate the relationship of adiponectin to obesity and insulin resistance in women with PCOS and severe insulin resistance.