The phytoestrogen has the positive effect in osteoporosis, cardiovascular diseases, facial flushing and other postmenopausal symptoms. And the purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of phytoestrogen in increasing breast size clinically and histological. The result show meaningful augmentation of the breast in group taken phytoestrogen tablets (PEITO) and in mouse study, study group showed more lobules and more duct cells in lobules than control group histological.The results mean phytoestrogen has weak estrogenic effect on the lobular structures of the breast tissue and finally increasing their size without any significant side effect

1. Introduction

Women’s breasts increase during adolescence and pregnancy, and to a lesser extent the same phenomenon occurs during the menstrual period. All of these are concerned with female hormones.

The breast increase resulting from hormones has been reported clinically among patients who take estrogen hormones, antidepressants and contraceptives. Furthermore, it is known that substances such as female hormones, prolactin and growth factors play a role in triggering these reactions, stimulating estrogen receptors distributed across lobules and modulating cell division and apoptosis.

Breast-augmentation surgery has been performed on premonopausal women for the purpose of beauty enhancement, that is, to increase the size of the breasts. However, issues such as high cost, post-surgery infection attributed to the materials inserted within the breasts, tissue rejection, have effectively limited the use of such procedures. Additionally, in recent years the use of estrogen, a female hormone taken by menopausal women, has decreased due to the increasing occurrence of breast and uterine cancers resulting from long-term use of the hormone.

Compared to estrogen, phytoestrogen originates in plants. Recently many foods and extracts containing this substance have been used for the treatment of menopausal symptoms, and it has been shown that phytoestrogen is effective in decreasing the frequencies of breast and uterine cancers, and in preventing osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease. Specifically, for Asian people such as Chinese, and for Japanese living in the United States, the frequency of breast cancer is low. Moreover, the occurrence of flushing--one of the menopausal symptoms--now stands at just 20%, dramatically lower than 80% of Western women. It is believed that one of the most significant factors is that phytoestrogen is contained in many foods common to Asian diets.

Since the 1980s, research on phytoestrogen has been led by American and European governments, as well as by manufacturers of soy-based foods. Thereafter, many menopausal women have taken phytoestrogen as a natural alternative in light of their concerns about the side effects of the hormonal treatment previously used. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the United States declared in 1999 that foods containing soy proteins in excess of 25 grams (such as soy, soybean milk, tofu, etc.) have low amounts of saturated fatty acid and cholesterol, and that they are effective for preventing cardiac diseases. Lamartiniere et al. (1998) claimed that an injection of genistein, a type of phytoestrogen, into a mouse less than 50 days old promoted the differentiation and maturation of mammary glands and thus contributed to reducing the occurrence of cancer against a carcinogen. Wang et al. (1995) claimed that an injection of the isoflavone formonenelin into the mouse whose ovary was removed led to the increase of prolactin in blood plasma and thus the augmentation of lobules.

During our experiments in the induction of osteogenesis against osteoporosis, we speculated that if for young women who are premenopausal, taking phytoestrogen promotes the differentiation and development of mammary glands and thus augments the breasts, it could be an alternative against breast-augmentation surgery--which despite its wide use has been rife with side effects—and against other medicines. Therefore, we devised this experiment.

2. Methods

A. Phytoestrogen tablets

PEITO (Product of Belgium) was used in this study. One tablet of this product weighs approximately one gram (0.996±0.023 gram) and is composed of substances extracted from hops, buckwheat, fennel seed, rye, barley, etc. In order to analyse the ingredients of this product, it was grounded with a mortar and crushed with a homogenizer filled with 1 liter of 100% methanol, whereupon the effective substances within it were extracted. All these processes were repeated three times and the supernatant was collected, concentrated and then redissolved in small amount of methanol for a final concentration of 50%. Subsequently it was loaded on a column saturated with hydrophobic interaction chromatography resin. Consequently we confirmed through chromatography that this product contains a large amount of genistein and diadzein.

B Subjects and Methods

i) Experiment with premenopausal women
We had thirty premenopausal women ages 24 to 35 (mean age 27.3) take the PEITO tablets for 6 months continuously. They took 10 tablets daily--five in the morning and five in the afternoon--30 minutes after each respective meal. Participants’ weights and breast sizes were measured at the beginning prior to taking tablets, and again at three months and six months after taking them. The breast size was measured from [illegible] to the nipples in a standing posture, and the values of liver (SGOT/PT) and renal (BUN/Creatinine) function and cholesterol were compared through blood tests.

ii) Animal experiment with mice
Thirty female mice were divided into two groups: an experimental and a control group. They were 12 weeks old, 140-200 grams in weight, and of the Sprague-Dawley strain. For the control group we fed an assorted feed without beans (Shin Chon Feed, Kimpo Kyunggido) and tap water, while for the experimental group we added 10 ground-up PEITO tablets per day to the same diet used for the control group. We obtained lobules from the slaughtered mice after three months’ experiment. The lobules thus obtained were fixed by soaking in 10% formalin solution for 12 hours. Tissue slices 5 μm thick were obtained by common tissue-production procedures and subjected to hematoxylin & eosin (H&P) staining [some words illegible]. We first examined the nipple tissues under 40x magnification and, based on that, compared the number of lobules located in hypodermic muscular coat. We also compared the number of cells that are constituent of lobules under 100x magnification.

3.Results

The mean weight of 30 women was increased from 53.7 kg at the beginning to 54.4 kg in six months, and mean breast size increased from 84.3 cm ( 33.19 inches) at the beginning to 87.9 cm (34.61 inches) in six months. In order to exclude the effect of breast augmentation by the increased weight of the participants, we compared results at intervals of three months: the beginning, three months and six months. Although there was no significant difference in breast augmentation between the 1 st 3 months-0.7371 p=0.3659) and next 3 months (-1.0665, p=0.1122), the difference between the 1st months and 6th month was significant (1.8036, p=0.0038).

Statistically, we used the Bonferroni method for p value, with a negative estimate taken to indicate that breast size measured at a later time was greater than one measured in the former time (Table 1, 2). We checked the items listed on the blood test before and after the experiments, and no significant difference or abnormal condition was examined.

Meanwhile, in terms of the histological tests obtained from the mouse experiment, under 40x magnification we could identify the increasing number of mammary glands at six months compared to those at the beginning, and under 100x magnification we could see the increase of cells constituent of mammary glands (Fig. 1, 2).

Table 1. Mean weight at each interval
Fig. 1. Cells of mouse breast tissue under 40x magnification
Fig. 2. Cells of mouse breast tissue under 100x magnification (A: beginning, B: 3 months)

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31780016/ (PMS)

This meta-analysis is an assessment of clinical trials carried out with well-defined VAC extract-containing medicines. The uniformity of indication and endpoints analysed renders the results of the trials included comparable. The remission of symptoms was 2.57 times (1.25-4.35 95%) more likely in those taking VAC than in those who received a placebo.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6887765/ (menopause)

Background

Menopausal symptoms have remarkable negative effects on women’s quality of life, justifying the need to assess various therapeutic options. This research aimed to determine the effectiveness of Vitex agnus-castus extracts in alleviating menopausal symptoms in comparison with that of placebo.

Methods

This study was a randomized controlled double-blind clinical trial with a study group of 52 women referred to a clinic in Kermanshah in 2017. The participants were randomly divided into two groups: Vitex group (26 subjects) and placebo group (26 subjects). Menopausal symptoms were assessed using the Greene Scale before and 8 weeks after the intervention.

Results

After the intervention, the mean scores for total menopausal disorder, anxiety, and vasomotor dysfunction were significantly lower in the Vitex group than in the placebo group (P<0.05). The mean scores of the variables of somatic complications, depression, and sexual dysfunction did not show significant differences between the Vitex and placebo groups (P>0.05).

Conclusion

Administration of Vitex agnus-castus extracts as a phytoestrogenic medicine can alleviate menopausal symptoms in women.

The result is that α-lipoic acid, as an antioxidant, aids in skin composition, protects the skin such as by forming a barrier to the development of the stratum corneum, and regulates water, nutrients, and external bacteria. It is believed that it can be given to help prevent the penetration of factors such as viruses. Changes in the proteins of Filaggrin, involucrin, loricrin, keratin10, and collagen IV by α-lipoic acid treatment were confirmed. Treatment of α-lipoic acid for as long as 7 days showed an increase in filaggrin, involucrin, and collagen IV proteins, and it was confirmed that the expression of keratin10 protein increased at some concentrations. Based on these results, a simple and convenient drivable pumpless skin-on-a-chip technology can be used to evaluate the efficacy of the drug and identify physiological changes as a skin substitute. We anticipate that this system can be used as an alternative to disease models and animal testing methods that are useful in the process of cosmetic development.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7927099/

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