ENVIRONMENTAL ESTROGENS - EFFECTS ON CHOLESTEROL-LOWERING AND BONE INTHE OVARIECTOMIZED RAT

Representative non-steroidal estrogens, from common environmental sour ces such as plants, pesticides, surfactants, plastics, and animal heal th products, demonstrated an ability to lower serum cholesterol and pr event bone loss. Specifically, select environmental estrogens (coumest rol, genistein, methoxychlor, bisphenol A, and zeranol) effectively lo wered total serum cholesterol in an estrogen-dependent animal model, t he ovariectomized rat. Of these entities, coumestrol, methoxychlor, an d zeranol prevented ovariectomy-induced bone loss. In an in vitro envi ronment, these compounds competed with 17 beta-estradiol for estrogen receptor binding and stimulated cell proliferation in a human breast c ancer cell line (MCF-7). In addition to their well-documented effects on reproductive tissue, various environmental estrogens can dramatical ly affect non-reproductive parameters such as cholesterol lowering and bone metabolism. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd.