Pomegranate seed compounds have estrogen receptor enzyme modulating activity. - GreenMedInfo Summary
Pomegranate (Punica granatum) seed linolenic acid isomers: concentration-dependent modulation of estrogen receptor activity.
Atherosclerosis. 2007 Aug;193(2):277-82. Epub 2006 Sep 29. PMID: 20136514
Department of Experimental Therapeutics, Kyungpook National University, Taegu, Republic of Korea.
Pomegranate (Punica granatum) seed linolenic acid isomers were evaluated as selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs) in vitro. Punicic acid (PA) inhibited (IC(50)) estrogen receptor (ER) alpha at 7.2 microM, ERbeta at 8.8 microM; alpha-eleostearic acid (AEA) inhibited ERalpha/ERbeta at 6.5/7.8 microM. PA (not AEA) agonized ERalpha/ERbeta (EC(50)) at 1.8/2 microM, antagonizing at 101/80 microM. AEA antagonized ERalpha/ERbeta at 150/140 microM. PA and AEA induced ERalpha and ERbeta mRNA expression in MCF-7, but not in MDA-MB-231. Overall, the results show PA and AEA are SERMs.