Abstract
We report population-based urinary concentrations of phytoestrogens stratified by age, sex, and composite racial/ethnic variables. We measured the isoflavones — genistein, daidzein, equol, and O-desmethylangolensin (O-DMA) — and the lignans — enterolactone and enterodiol — in approximately 2500 urine samples from individuals aged 6 years and older who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) in 1999 and 2000. We detected all phytoestrogens in over 70% of the samples analyzed; enterolactone was detected in the highest concentrations, and daidzein was detected with the highest frequency. The geometric means for each phytoestrogen were as follows: genistein, 22.3 μg/g; daidzein, 68.6 μg/g; equol, 7.65 μg/g; O-DMA, 3.95 μg/g; enterolactone, 217 μg/g; and enterodiol, 24.3 μg/g creatinine. The 95th percentiles for each phytoestrogen were as follows: genistein, 380 μg/g; daidzein, 944 μg/g; equol, 50.3 μg/g; O-DMA, 217 μg/g; enterolactone, 2240 μg/g; and enterodiol, 240 μg/g creatinine. Multivariate analyses showed statistically significant differences among many of the demographic subgroups. Adolescents had higher concentrations of genistein and equol than adults. Non-Hispanic whites had higher concentrations of enterodiol and equol than Mexican Americans or non-Hispanic blacks. Non-Hispanic whites also had higher concentrations of enterolactone and O-DMA than Mexican Americans. Mexican Americans had higher concentrations of genistein than non-Hispanic blacks; however, the opposite was found for O-DMA. Determination of phytoestrogen exposure in the US population will help us to better understand phytoestrogen consumption in the US and will assist us in elucidating the potential role of phytoestrogens in protecting against cancer and heart disease.
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Acknowledgements
We thank those individuals, especially Susan Schober, Brenda Lewis and Cliff Johnson, at the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), who were responsible for the planning and administering of NHANES. We also thank Jim Pirkle, Elaine Gunter and Christine Pfeiffer of the National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH) of the CDC for serving as liaisons with NCHS. We thank Sam Caudill (NCEH) for statistical evaluations and Tom Bernert and his research team for serum cotinine measurements. We also thank the University of Minnesota's Medical Center for providing creatinine measurements and Westat for its many activities in conducting the NHANES.
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Valentín-Blasini, L., Sadowski, M., Walden, D. et al. Urinary phytoestrogen concentrations in the U.S. population (1999–2000). J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 15, 509–523 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jea.7500429
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jea.7500429
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