Mechanism of catechol estrogen formation in man.
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Plasma levels of 2-hydroxyestradiol (2-OHE2) were measured using a new RIA procedure. Values were below the detection limit of the assay (less than 10 pg/ml), except in the third trimester of pregnancy, when they rose to approximately 15 pg/ml. The infusion of 130 microgram/h purified 2-OHE2 elevated its plasma concentration to 155 pg/ml, consistent with a plasma MCR (MCRp) of approximately 20,000 liters/day. The infusion of [3H] 2-OHE2 to equilibrium and chromatographic separation of the extracted plasma metabolites yielded an MCRp of about 13,000 liters/day; the major plasma metabolite comigrated with 2-methoxyestradiol, and [3H] xi-methoxyestrone was also formed. The MCRp, of 2-OHE2 is approximately half that of 2-hydroxyestrone (2-OHE1), but much higher than those of other steroids. As is true for 2-OHE1, the clearance of 2-OHE2 must occur primarily in the blood compartment. Together, the measured MCRp values and estrogen receptor affinities of 2-OHE2 and 2-OHE1 predict a relative potency for effects upon gonadotropin secretion which is close to that observed in vivo.
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The effect of 1,3,5(10)-estratriene-3, 16 alpha, 17 beta-triol (estriol), 1, 3, 5(10)-estratriene-2,3-diol-17-one (2-hydroxyestrone), and 1,3,5(10)-estratriene-2,3,17 beta-triol (2-hydroxyestradiol) on the growth of dimethylbenz(a)anthracene-induced mammary tumor and of R3230AC-transplantable mammary tumor was compared with that produced by estradiol benzoate treatment. Estriol showed minimal inhibition of tumor growth in dimethylbenz(a)anthracene-induced tumor and no effect on R3230AC tumor while 2-hydroxyestrone showed no effect of tumor inhibition. On the other hand, 2-hydroxyestradiol showed appreciable inhibition of tumor growth in both tumors studied. That 2-hydroxyestradiol has been found to bind to estrogen receptors in mammary tumors and is uterotropic suggests that the inhibition of tumor growth by 2-hydroxyestradiol may be similar to the mechanism of inhibition of mammary tumors by high concentrations of estradiol.
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BACKGROUND: Caucasian and Oriental women have different incidence rates of breast cancer. Among the underlying risk factors for the development of breast cancer in the women of these two groups may be their different diets and patterns of estrogen metabolism and excretion. The absolute levels and relative ratios of 16 alpha-hydroxylated estrogens and 2-hydroxylated estrogens (catechol estrogens) in the body may have a role in the etiology of breast cancer, but studies so far have provided only conflicting results. PURPOSE: Our goal was to study estrogen metabolism, in particular, the extent of 2-hydroxylation and 16 alpha-hydroxylation of estrogens in two groups of women, one Caucasian and one Oriental, with inherently different breast cancer risks. METHODS: Dietary records were analyzed over 3-day periods in the mid-follicular phase, twice, at 6-month intervals for 13 premenopausal Oriental women, recent immigrant arrivals in Hawaii with presumed low risk of breast cancer, and for 12 premenopausal Finnish women with presumed higher risk. The urinary estrogen profile was measured by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and plasma and fecal estrogens were assayed by chromatographic radioimmunoassays. RESULTS: Mean fat intake per 1000 kcal was 73% higher (P < .001) in the Finnish women, but the mean fiber intake and fecal weights were similar to those of the Oriental women. Compared with Oriental women, Finnish women had 46% higher plasma estradiol (P < .01) and 124% higher plasma estrone sulfate (P < .01); however, after adjustment for differences in age and body mass index, only the difference in estrone sulfate remained statistically significant (P < .05). Mean plasma levels of estrone and estradiol correlated with height after adjustment for body mass index (P < .05). Mean plasma levels of estrone and sex hormone-binding globulin were similar. The Finns had higher mean urinary estrone (193%), estradiol (166%), various catechol estrogens (130%-439%), and total estrogen excretion (123%) (all P < .001), but similar 16 alpha-hydroxylated estrogen excretion. As calculated, 16 alpha-hydroxylation of estrone was significantly increased (P < .01) in the Oriental women, but 2-hydroxylation, 4-hydroxylation, and 16 beta-hydroxylation of estrone were similar in both groups. The ratio of catechol estrogen to 16 alpha-hydroxylated estrogen was four to five times higher (P < .001) in the Finnish women. The Oriental women had two to three times higher fecal excretion of estrogens than the Finnish women (P < .01). CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that high catechol estrogen formation may be a greater risk factor for breast cancer than high 16 alpha-hydroxylation of estrogens. However, the main risk factor for the Finnish women, as opposed to the Oriental women, may be their higher estrogen levels that result from a higher fat diet, higher estrogen production related to their greater height, and lower fecal estrogen excretion.
Androgens and estrogens play major roles in cell differentiation, cell growth, and peptide secretion in steroid target tissues. In addition to the binding of these hormones to their receptors, formation and metabolism are important in the action of steroids. Metabolism of the potent steroid hormones includes glucuronidation, a major pathway of steroid elimination in liver and several steroid target tissues. Glucuronidation is catalyzed by UDP-glucuronosyltransferases (UGTs), which transfer the polar moiety from UDP-glucuronic acid to a wide variety of endogenous compounds, including steroid hormones. The UGT superfamily of enzymes is subdivided into two families, UGT1 and UGT2, on the basis of sequence homology. To date, six UGT2B proteins have been isolated, namely UGT2B4, UGT2B7, UGT2B10, UGT2B11, UGT2B15, and UGT2B17, all of which have been demonstrated to be active on steroid molecules, except for UGT2B10 and UGT2B11, for which no substrate was found. The relative activity of these enzymes on steroidal compounds remains unknown due to variable levels of UGT2B expression in different in vitro cell line models and various conditions of the enzymatic assays. Comparison of the glucuronidation rates of these enzymes requires a unique system for UGT2B protein expression, protein normalization, and enzymatic assays. In this study we have stably expressed UGT2B4, UGT2B7, UGT2B15, and UGT2B17 in the HK293 cell line, which is devoid of steroid UGT activity; characterized their kinetic properties relative to UGT protein expression; determined their transcript and protein stabilities; and established extensively their tissular distributions. UGT2B7 was demonstrated to glucuronidate estrogens, catechol estrogens, and androstane-3alpha,17beta-diol more efficiently than any other human UGTB isoform. UGT2B15 and UGT2B17 showed similar glucuronidation activity for androstane-3alpha,17beta-diol (30% lower than that of UGT2B7), whereas UGT2B17 demonstrated the highest activity for androsterone, testosterone, and dihydrotestosterone. UGT2B4 demonstrates reactivity toward 5alpha-reduced androgens and catechol estrogens, but at a significantly lower level than UGT2B7, 2B15, and 2B17. Cycloheximide treatment of stably transfected HK293 cells demonstrated that the UGT2B17 protein is more labile than the other enzymes; the protein levels decrease after 1 h of treatment, whereas other UGT2B proteins were stable for at least 12 h. Treatment of stable cells with actinomycin D reveals that UGT2B transcripts are stable for 12 h, except for the UGT2B4 transcript, which was decreased by 50% after the 12-h incubation period. Tissue distribution of the UGT2B enzymes demonstrated that UGT2B isoforms are expressed in the liver as well as in several extrahepatic steroid target tissues, namely, kidney, breast, lung, and prostate. This study clearly demonstrates the relative activities and the major substrates of human steroid-metabolizing UGT2B enzymes, which are expressed in a wide variety of steroid target tissues.
The mechanisms underlying the differences in uterotrophic potency between 2- and 4-hydroxyestrogens were explored. Doses of estradiol (E2)(10 micrograms/kg), 2-OHE2 (500 micrograms/kg) and 4-OHE2 (100 micrograms/kg) sufficient to induce near maximal cell nuclear estrogen receptor (ERn) binding were injected subcutaneously into 26 day old female rats. Uterine ERn concentrations declined more rapidly after 2-OHE2 than after E2 or 4-OHE2. E2 and 4-OHE2 both elicited a significant increase in uterine wet weight, measured at 24-36 hrs after injection. 2-OHE2 had no significant effect and neither synergized with nor antagonized the effects of simultaneously administered E2 or 4-OHE2. Under in vitro conditions at 25 degrees C, 2-hydroxyestrone (2-OHE1) and 2-OHE2 both dissociated from the receptors more rapidly than either their parent monophenolic estrogens or the corresponding 4-hydroxyestrogens. These results suggest that differences in estrogenic potency between 2- and 4-hydroxyestrogens may partly be a function of the dissociation kinetics of their estrogen receptor complexes.
Strong evidence supports the idea that specific metabolites of estrogens, mainly catechol estrogen-3,4-quinones, can react with DNA to become endogenous initiators of breast, prostate, and other human cancers. Oxidation of the catechol estrogen metabolites 4-hydroxyestradiol (4-OHE2) and 2-OHE2 leads to the quinones, estradiol-3,4-quinone (E2-3,4-Q) and estradiol-2,3-quinone (E2-2,3-Q), respectively. The reaction of E2-3,4-Q with DNA affords predominantly the depurinating adducts 4-OHE2-1-N3Ade and 4-OHE2-1-N7Gua, whereas the reaction of E2-2,3-Q with DNA yields the newly synthesized depurinating adduct 2-OHE2-6-N3Ade. The N3Ade adducts are lost from DNA by rapid depurination, while the N7Gua adduct is lost from DNA with a half-life of approximately 3 h at 37 degrees C. To compare the relative reactivity of E2-3,4-Q and E2-2,3-Q, the compounds were reacted individually with DNA for 0.5-20 h at 37 degrees C, as well as in mixtures (3:1, 1:1, 1:3, and 5:95) for 10 h at 37 degrees C. Depurinating and stable adducts were analyzed. In similar experiments, the relative reactivity of 4-OHE2 and 2-OHE2 with DNA was determined after activation by lactoperoxidase, tyrosinase, prostaglandin H synthase (PHS), or 3-methylcholanthrene-induced rat liver microsomes. Starting with the quinones, the levels of depurinating adducts formed from E2-3,4-Q were much higher than that of the depurinating adduct from E2-2,3-Q. Similar results were obtained with lactoperoxidase or tyrosinase-catalyzed oxidation of 4-OHE2 and 2-OHE2, whereas with activation by PHS or microsomes, a relatively higher amount of the depurinating adduct from E2-2,3-Q was detected. These results demonstrate that the E2-3,4-Q is much more reactive with DNA than E2-2,3-Q. The relative reactivities of E2-3,4-Q and E2-2,3-Q to form depurinating adducts correlate with the carcinogenicity, mutagenicity, and cell-transforming activity of their precursors, the catechol estrogens 4-OHE2 and 2-OHE2. This is essential information for understanding the cancer risk posed by oxidation of the two catechol estrogens.
We tested the effects of 17beta-estradiol as well as its catechol- and methoxy-derivatives, two androgens (DHEA and testosterone), a glucocorticoid (cortisol), a mineralocorticoid (aldosterone), and progesterone on the activity of ERK(1,2), a key component of the ERK/MAPK enzyme phosphorylation cascade, in SW-13 human adrenal carcinoma cells. After a 24-hour exposure SW-13 cells incubated with 10(-5) M concentrations of 17beta-estradiol, its 2-hydroxy or its 2-methoxy derivative, all had elevated ERK activities (196%, 159%, and 275%, respectively) relative to control cells (p < 0.01). Incubation with testosterone resulted in 162% of control ERK activity (p < 0.01), whereas incubation with the far weaker androgen DHEA or with cortisol, aldosterone, or progesterone had no significant effects. These findings suggest sex steroid-specific influences in the induction or activation of signal transduction pathways known to play a crucial role in cellular proliferation and differentiation.
Phytochemicals are natural dietary constituents of fruits and vegetables. Some of these phytochemicals are known to affect estrogen-metabolizing enzymes. In breast tissue, estradiol can be metabolized to the catechol estrogens 2- and 4-hydroxyestradiol (2-OHE(2) and 4-OHE(2)). Catechol estrogens are suspected carcinogens potentially involved in the etiology of breast cancer. Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) converts the catechol estrogens to their inactive methoxy derivatives (2-MeOE(2) and 4-MeOE(2)). In this study we investigated the effects of several phytochemicals on COMT activity in cytosolic fractions of seven healthy human mammary tissues from reduction mammoplasty. Large interindividual variations were observed in the constitutive levels of COMT activity. However, in all cytosol samples the catalytic efficiency of COMT was greater for 2-MeOE(2) formation than for 4-MeOE(2) formation. The known COMT inhibitor Ro 41-0960 and several phytochemicals with a catechol structure (quercetin, catechin, and (-)-epicatechin) concentration-dependently inhibited COMT activity, while phytochemicals without a catechol structure (genistein, chrysin, and flavone) showed no effect up to 30 microM. Distinct interindividual variations were observed in sensitivity toward COMT inhibition among the various tissue samples, as was shown by the range in IC(50) values for Ro 41-0960 (5-42 nM). The toxicological relevance of COMT inhibition and the effect of reduced inactivation of catechol estrogens was studied by determining the amount of catechol estrogen-induced DNA damage in MCF-7 cells using the comet assay. Catechol estrogens alone caused no increase of DNA damage compared with control treated cells. However, both Ro 41-0960 and quercetin caused a decrease of methoxy estradiol formation and an increase of catechol estrogen-induced DNA damage in MCF-7 cells. This suggests that phytochemicals with a catechol structure have the potential to reduce COMT activity in mammary tissues and may consequently reduce the inactivation of potentially mutagenic estradiol metabolites and increase the chance of DNA damage.