Holistic Health Articles and Research Related to Herbal Medicines, Foods and Phytochemicals : Phytochemicals in Foods

Thursday, 7 November 2013

Phytochemicals in Foods - 13 Health Benefits of Glycitein

Glycitein is a phytochemical in the Isoflavones, belonging to the group of Flavonoids (polyphenols), found abundantly in food of the family of legumes, soy, peanuts, chick peas, fava beans, alfalfa, kudzu, etc.

Health Benefits
1. Prostate cancer
In the examination of the effects of the soy isoflavone glycitein on cellular differentiation in prostate epithelial cells (RWPE-1, WPE1-NB14, and RWPE-2), found that Glycitein significantly inhibited RWPE-1 cellular proliferation at concentrations ranging from 0.4 to 50 microM. Expression of the luminal epithelial cell marker cytokeratin 18 was not affected by glycitein treatment in the WPE1-NB14 and RWPE-2 cell line, according to "Basal cell induced differentiation of noncancerous prostate epithelial cells (RWPE-1) by glycitein" by Clubbs EA, Bomser JA(1)

2. Endometrial cancer
In the observation of the effects of Phytochemicals found in soy and other legumes in reducing the risk of endometrial cancer, found that a reduced risk of endometrial cancer was associated with total isoflavone intake (highest vs lowest quintile, ≥7.82 vs <1.59 mg per 1000 kcal/d, RR = 0.66, 95% CI = 0.47 to 0.91), daidzein intake (highest vs lowest quintile, ≥3.54 vs <0.70 mg per 1000 kcal/d, RR = 0.64, 95% CI = 0.46 to 0.90), and genistein intake (highest vs lowest quintile, ≥3.40 vs <0.69 mg per 1000 kcal/d, RR = 0.66, 95% CI = 0.47 to 0.91). No statistically significant association with endometrial cancer risk was observed for increasing intake of legumes, soy, tofu, or glycitein. Truncated age-adjusted incidence rates of endometrial cancer for the highest vs lowest quintile of total isoflavone intake were 55 vs 107 per 100 000 women per year, respectively, according to "Legume, soy, tofu, and isoflavone intake and endometrial cancer risk in postmenopausal women in the multiethnic cohort study" by Ollberding NJ, Lim U, Wilkens LR, Setiawan VW, Shvetsov YB, Henderson BE, Kolonel LN, Goodman MT.(2)

3. Ovarian cancer
In the evaluation of the impact of phytoestrogen consumption on breast cancer risk and its role on ovarian cancer, found that No statistically significant associations were found with any of the phytoestrogens under evaluation. However, there was a suggestion of an inverse association with total phytoestrogen consumption (from foods and supplements), with an odds ratio (OR) of 0.62 (95% CI: 0.38-1.00; p for trend: 0.04) for the highest vs. lowest tertile of consumption, after adjusting for reproductive covariates, age, race, education, BMI, and total energy. Further adjustment for smoking and physical activity attenuated risk estimates (OR: 0.66; 95% CI: 0.41-1.08), according to "Phytoestrogen consumption from foods and supplements and epithelial ovarian cancer risk: a population-based case control study" by Bandera EV, King M, Chandran U, Paddock LE, Rodriguez-Rodriguez L, Olson SH.(3)

4. Antioxidants
in the evaluation of the antioxidant activity and contents of various polyphenol classes in the seeds of seven soybean varieties of different seed color and one yellow seed cultivar, found that antioxidant activity of seed extracts was evaluated by the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl free radical scavenging activity assay. A positive linear correlation between antioxidant activity and contents of total polyphenols and anthocyanins was established. The highest antioxidant activity was observed in the extracts of black and brown varieties, which also showed high levels of all polyphenol classes examined. Yellow seed had the highest total isoflavone content (3.62 mg/g of dry material). The highest concentration of total daidzein was determined in black seeds (>2.0 mg/g of dry material), and the highest total glycitein and genistein contents occurred in the yellow cultivar (0.53 and 1.49 mg/g of dry material, respectively). According to our results, varieties of black and brown seeds could be of special interest not only for their large content of total polyphenols, ranging from 4.94 to 6.22 mg of gallic acid equivalents/g of dry material, but also for their high content of natural antioxidants such as anthocyanins, according to "Polyphenol content and antioxidant properties of colored soybean seeds from central europe" by Malenčić D, Cvejić J, Miladinović J.(4)

5. Cervical cancer
In the evaluation of the effect of a soy-derived isoflavone mixture (designated as SI-I, containing 71% daidzein, 14.3% genistein and 14.7% glycitein) on HeLa cells and its mechanism were investigated. SI-I in concentration range 5-80 μg/ml significantly reduced the survival rate of HeLa cells by MTT assay, found that SI-I inhibited HeLa cell growth through inducing apoptosis via the mitochondrial pathway and comparisons with reported data indicated that synergistic effect existed between the isoflavone species contained in SI-I. It is proposed that natural soy-derived isoflavones are potential candidates as chemotherapeutic agents against human cervical cancer, according to "Soy-derived isoflavones inhibit HeLa cell growth by inducing apoptosis" by Xiao JX, Huang GQ, Geng X, Qiu HW.(5)

6. Colon cancer
In the investigation of the cellular effects of soy isoflavones (composed of genistein, daidzein, and glycitein) in DLD-1 human colon adenocarcinoma cells with or without ER-β gene silencing by RNA interference (RNAi), found that maintaining the expression of ER-β is crucial in mediating the growth-suppressive effects of soy isoflavones against colon tumors. Thus upregulation of ER-β status by specific food-borne ER-ligands such as soy isoflavones could potentially be a dietary prevention or therapeutic strategy for colon cancer, according to "Estrogen receptor-β mediates the inhibition of DLD-1 human colon adenocarcinoma cells by soy isoflavones" by Bielecki A, Roberts J, Mehta R, Raju J.(6)

7. Osteoclast differentiation and apoptosis
In the investigation of the effects of glycitein on osteoclast differentiation and apoptosis in vitro,
found that Osteoclast generation was inhibited by glycitein in a biphasic-dose-dependent manner and showed the greatest inhibitory effects at 10 nM (-70%, p < 0.01). Glycitein increased caspase 3/7 activity by 15% at a concentration of 10 nM (p < 0.001). Further, 10 nM glycitein significantly decreased the expression of IL-6 (-53%, p < 0.05) and RANKL (-64%, p < 0.05) in osteoblasts but did not change mRNA levels of OPG, according to "Glycitein decreases the generation of murine osteoclasts and increases apoptosis" by Winzer M, Rauner M, Pietschmann P.(7)

8. Anti allergic effects
in the investigation of the production of beta-maltooligosaccharides of glycitein and daidzein using Lactobacillus delbrueckii and cyclodextrin glucanotransferase (CGTase) as biocatalysts,
found that The 7-O-beta-glucosides of glycitein and daidzein and 7-O-beta-maltoside of glycitein showed inhibitory effects on IgE antibody production. On the other hand, beta-glucosides of glycitein and daidzein exerted 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free-radical scavenging activity and supeoxide-radical scavenging activity, according to "Synthesis of beta-maltooligosaccharides of glycitein and daidzein and their anti-oxidant and anti-allergic activities" by Shimoda K, Hamada H.(8)

9. Anti-photoaging effects
In the evaluation of purified soy isoflavone extract from soybean cake for the protective effects on UVB-induced damage, Fraction 3, which contains the aglycone group (daidzein, genistein and glycitein) and acetylglucoside group (acetyldaidzin, acetylgenistin and acetylglycitin) of soy isoflavones, could inhibit UVB-induced death of human keratinocytes and reduce the level of desquamation, transepidermal water loss (TEWL), erythema and epidermal thickness in mouse skin, according to "Anti-photoaging effects of soy isoflavone extract (aglycone and acetylglucoside form) from soybean cake" by Huang CC, Hsu BY, Wu NL, Tsui WH, Lin TJ, Su CC, Hung CF.(9)

10. Hypolipidemic effects
In the comprison of whether Monascus-fermented soybean extracts (MFSE) enriched with bioactive mevinolins (natural statins) and aglycone isoflavones (daidzein, glycitein, and genistein) perform an additive hypolipidemic effect in hyperlipidemic ratsand unfermented soybean extracts (UFSE), which have a higher level of glucoside isoflavones (daidzin, glycitin, and genistin) without mevinolin, found that treatment with both MFSE200 and MFSE400 groups for 40 days significantly reduced the activities of serum aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase by averages of 35.6 and 43.2%, respectively, as compared to the high-fat diet group (p < 0.01). The results indicate that MFSE performs a more potent hypolipidemic action via improvement of the lipid profiles and down-regulated HMG-CoA reductase activity than UFSE in hyperlipidemic rats, according to "Hypolipidemic effects of Monascus-fermented soybean extracts in rats fed a high-fat and -cholesterol diet" by Pyo YH, Seong KS.(10)

11. Metabolic and inflammatory markers
in the measurement of glucose, insulin, and adipokines/cytokines in 75 healthy postmenopausal women who were randomized to receive 20 g of soy protein with 160 mg of total isoflavones (64 mg genistein, 63 mg daidzein, and 34 mg glycitein) or 20 g of soy protein placebo for 12 weeks. Women taking estrogen discontinued therapy at least 3 months before the study, found that after 12 weeks of treatment, there were significant positive changes in tumor necrosis factor alpha levels within the placebo group (P < 0.0001) and adiponectin levels within the isoflavone group (P = 0.03). Comparison of pre-post change between the groups showed a small but significant increase in serum adiponectin levels in the isoflavone group (P = 0.03) compared with the placebo group. No significant changes were seen in any other parameter between the two groups, according to "Effects of high-dose isoflavones on metabolic and inflammatory markers in healthy postmenopausal women" by Charles C, Yuskavage J, Carlson O, John M, Tagalicud AS, Maggio M, Muller DC, Egan J, Basaria S.(11)

12. Post-menopausal effects
found that high-dose isoflavones is associated with improved QOL among women who have become menopausal recently. Hence, the timing of isoflavone supplementation with regards to the onset of menopause appears to be important. The use of isoflavones, as an alternative to estrogen therapy, may be potentially useful and seemingly safe in this group of women who are looking for relief from menopausal symptoms, according to "Effect of high-dose isoflavones on cognition, quality of life, androgens, and lipoprotein in post-menopausal women" by Basaria S, Wisniewski A, Dupree K, Bruno T, Song MY, Yao F, Ojumu A, John M, Dobs AS.(12)

13. Obesity
In the investigation of Soygerm isoflavones fermentated by Bifidobacterium breve with most of isoflavone glycosides (daidzin, glycitin and genistin) in soygerms were deglycosylated to their corresponding isoflavone aglycones (daidzein, glycitein and genistein) within 24 h fermentation, found that ral administration of fermented isoflavones effectively suppressed absorption of excessive lipid into a body. Addition of either unfermented or fermented soygerm isoflavones effectively inhibited adipocyte differentiation from 3T3-L1 in a dose dependent manner., according to "Anti-obesity activities of fermented soygerm isoflavones by Bifidobacterium breve" by Choi I, Kim Y, Park Y, Seog H, Choi H.(13)