Isoliquiritigenin in licorice has estrogenic and antiproliferative activities

Breast Cancer
May 6, 2003

2003 MAY 6 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- At lower levels, licorice root's isoliquiritigenin is an estrogenic agonist and at higher levels it is cytotoxic.

According to a study from Italy, "Licorice root contains chemically diverse compounds that exhibit estrogenic effects in vitro and in vivo. The chalcone isoliquiritigenin (ISL) is a component of licorice extract exhibiting either antitumorigenic activity or estrogen receptor (ER) alpha-dependent growth promoting effects on breast cancer cells.

"In order to contribute to a better understanding of this apparent paradox, we synthesized and ascertained the estrogenic properties of ISL using, as model systems, the hormone-sensitive MCF7 breast cancer cells and the steroid-independent HeLa cells.

"Transfection experiments reveal that ISL is able to transactivate the endogenous ERalpha in MCF7 cells and this is supported by the capability to induce downregulation of ERalpha protein levels and upregulation of pS2 mRNA. Moreover, by using chimeric proteins consisting of the hormone binding domains of ERalpha and ERP fused to the Ga14 DNA binding domain, we have determined that ISL is an estrogenic agonist of both ER isoforms.

"As a biological counterpart, low and intermediate ISL concentrations that induce substantial transcriptional activity stimulate the proliferation of MCF7 cells. However, high levels of ISL become cytotoxic even in steroid-receptor negative HeLa cells," wrote M. Maggiolini and colleagues.

The researchers concluded: "Thus, the activity of ISL and the balance between risk or chemopreventive factor for estrogen-dependent breast cancer may depend on dietary intake."

Maggiolini and colleagues published their study in Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (Estrogenic and antiproliferative activities of isoliquiritigenin in MCF7 breast cancer cells. J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol, 2002;82(4-5):315-322).

For more information, contact S. Amdo, University of Calabria, Department Cellular Biology, Faculty Farm, I-87036 Arcavacata Di Rende, CS, Italy.

Publisher contact information for the Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology is: Pergamon-Elsevier Science Ltd., the Boulevard, Langford Lane, Kidlington, Oxford OX5 1GB, UK.

The information in this article comes under the major subject areas of Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Oncology and Women's Health. This article was prepared by Cancer Weekly editors from staff and other reports.

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