Abstract
BIOCHANIN A (I), genistein (II) and formononetin (III) have been shown to act as oestrogens in mice, rats and guinea-pigs, and are considered to be responsible for the depression of fertility noted in sheep grazing subterranean clover1. An examination has now been made of the urinary metabolites produced when these isoflavones are administered to sheep. Nilsson2 reported that biochanin A, injected intraperitoneally into rats, was largely excreted in the faeces as biochanin A and genistein or their conjugates. In our experiments with sheep, only trace amounts of free or conjugated isoflavones were found in the faeces.
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BATTERHAM, T., HART, N., LAMBERTON, J. et al. Metabolism of Oestrogenic Isoflavones in Sheep. Nature 206, 509 (1965). https://doi.org/10.1038/206509a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/206509a0
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