Steve
Wed, Apr-14-04, 18:18
From: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3607815.stm
---------------------------------------------------------
Soy 'stops cancer and baldness' Researchers believe the
molecule could help treat baldness Scientists have claimed
that eating soy could help prevent men from developing
prostate cancer and from going bald.
US researchers found a molecule produced in the intestine when
soy is digested stops a hormone which can fuel prostate growth
or cause baldness.
Writing in the journal Biology of Reproduction, they said the
finding could explain why Japanese men, who eat more soya,
rarely have prostate cancer.
They said the molecule could be used as a treatment for cancer
and baldness.
The team found that the molecule, equol, "handcuffs" the male
hormone DHT - a by-product of testosterone.
The researchers say this could be particularly important for
men who have been diagnosed with either an enlarged prostate
(benign prostatic hyperplasia), or cancer of the prostate.
DHT has also been implicated in research into the causes of
male pattern baldness.
Other drugs developed in recent years aimed at blocking the
effect of DHT have been developed.
But these drugs, which stopped an enzyme converting
testosterone into DHT, were found to cause side effects.
'Holy grail'
The US researchers found equol does not prevent DHT from being
made, but it does stop it functioning.
They carried out two experiments on rats which showed
injecting equol into male rats reduced the size of the
prostate.
In one, the testes of male rats were removed, so they produced
no DHT. When investigators injected DHT into rats, their
prostates grew.
When they injected rats with both equol and DHT, the equol
prevented the DHT from functioning as it normally would - as a
stimulator of prostate growth.
Professor Robert Handa, from Colorado State's College of
Veterinary Medicine, who led the research, said: "Directly
binding and inactivating DHT without influencing
testosterone gives equol the ability to reduce many of the
harmful effects of androgens [male hormones] without
affecting the beneficial ones."
Dr Kenneth Setchell, of Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical
Center, who first identified the potential of equol 20 years
ago, said: "These findings are of immense clinical importance
because blocking the action of the potent male hormone DHT has
been one of the holy grails of the pharmaceutical industry as
a strategy for treating prostate cancer and other related
diseases."
He said the soy molecule did this "very effectively."
A spokesman for Cancer Research UK told BBC News Online: "One
third of all cancers are thought to be linked to diet but it
is not known exactly which components of our diet protect
against cancer or indeed place us at increased risk.
"We do know that countries with a high intake of soy in their
diet, such as Japan, tend to have lower rates of prostate
cancer and some other types, with the active ingredients in
soy thought to be isoflavones.
"There's a lot of research into whether isoflavones can be
used to prevent the spread of prostate cancer, which usually
develops slowly."
He added: "This study is interesting in that it raises the
possibility of using a metabolite of isoflavones as a
preventative agent against prostate cancer, which is now the
most commonly diagnosed cancer in British men."
---------------------------------------------------------
Soy 'stops cancer and baldness' Researchers believe the
molecule could help treat baldness Scientists have claimed
that eating soy could help prevent men from developing
prostate cancer and from going bald.
US researchers found a molecule produced in the intestine when
soy is digested stops a hormone which can fuel prostate growth
or cause baldness.
Writing in the journal Biology of Reproduction, they said the
finding could explain why Japanese men, who eat more soya,
rarely have prostate cancer.
They said the molecule could be used as a treatment for cancer
and baldness.
The team found that the molecule, equol, "handcuffs" the male
hormone DHT - a by-product of testosterone.
The researchers say this could be particularly important for
men who have been diagnosed with either an enlarged prostate
(benign prostatic hyperplasia), or cancer of the prostate.
DHT has also been implicated in research into the causes of
male pattern baldness.
Other drugs developed in recent years aimed at blocking the
effect of DHT have been developed.
But these drugs, which stopped an enzyme converting
testosterone into DHT, were found to cause side effects.
'Holy grail'
The US researchers found equol does not prevent DHT from being
made, but it does stop it functioning.
They carried out two experiments on rats which showed
injecting equol into male rats reduced the size of the
prostate.
In one, the testes of male rats were removed, so they produced
no DHT. When investigators injected DHT into rats, their
prostates grew.
When they injected rats with both equol and DHT, the equol
prevented the DHT from functioning as it normally would - as a
stimulator of prostate growth.
Professor Robert Handa, from Colorado State's College of
Veterinary Medicine, who led the research, said: "Directly
binding and inactivating DHT without influencing
testosterone gives equol the ability to reduce many of the
harmful effects of androgens [male hormones] without
affecting the beneficial ones."
Dr Kenneth Setchell, of Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical
Center, who first identified the potential of equol 20 years
ago, said: "These findings are of immense clinical importance
because blocking the action of the potent male hormone DHT has
been one of the holy grails of the pharmaceutical industry as
a strategy for treating prostate cancer and other related
diseases."
He said the soy molecule did this "very effectively."
A spokesman for Cancer Research UK told BBC News Online: "One
third of all cancers are thought to be linked to diet but it
is not known exactly which components of our diet protect
against cancer or indeed place us at increased risk.
"We do know that countries with a high intake of soy in their
diet, such as Japan, tend to have lower rates of prostate
cancer and some other types, with the active ingredients in
soy thought to be isoflavones.
"There's a lot of research into whether isoflavones can be
used to prevent the spread of prostate cancer, which usually
develops slowly."
He added: "This study is interesting in that it raises the
possibility of using a metabolite of isoflavones as a
preventative agent against prostate cancer, which is now the
most commonly diagnosed cancer in British men."