Botanical dietary supplements with are increasingly popular for women’s health particularly for older women. These women tend to take botanical supplements as natural alternatives to traditional hormone therapy to relieve menopausal symptoms. Several of these botanicals could have additional preventive effects linked to multiple biological targets including hormonal, metabolic, inflammatory, and/or epigenetic pathways. For example, hops, licorice, and red clover extracts contain weak electrophiles which can activate the Keap1-nrf2 pathway and turn on the synthesis of detoxification enzymes such as quinone reductase and GST. Inflammation has been linked to induction of P450 1B1 and anti-inflammatory bioactive compounds in these botanicals could also inhibit estrogen carcinogenesis through NF-kB mediated pathways. Finally, although botanicals are perceived as natural safe remedies, it is important for women and their health care providers to realize that they have not been rigorously tested for potential toxic effects and/or drug/botanical interactions. Understanding the mechanism of action and biological targets of these supplements and their electrophilic metabolites used for women’s health, will ultimately lead to standardized botanical products with higher efficacy, safety, and chemopreventive properties.

Botanicals electrophiles modify multiple targets

256th National Meeting (2018)

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