cit-title-group
Abstract
Department of Nutritional Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3E2 and *Program for Collaborative Research in the Pharmaceutical Sciences, Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy, College of Pharmacy, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60612 humans and animals (Adlercreutz et al. 1986b and 1995a, Atkinson et al. 1993, Dehennin et al. 1982, Setcheli et al. 1981) are formed by the action of bacterial flora in the colon (Axelson and Setchell 1981) on pre cursors that are present in the diet (Axelson et al. 1982). Secoisolariciresinol diglycoside (SDG), a major precur sor of mammalian s found at high levels in flaxseed (Axelson et al. 1982), is metabolized to ED which is then oxidized to EL. Enterolactone can also be formed directly from another plant , matairesinol (Borriello et al. 1985). Once formed, ED and EL undergo enterohepatic circulation. s that reach the kid ney are excreted in the urine as glucuronide conjugates (Adlercreutz et al. 1995b). Much evidence accumulated to date suggests that consuming a diet containing mammalian pre cursors would have a protective effect against cancer. Higher urinary levels have been found in humans and animals at lower risk of developing cancer