the phytoestrogen quercetin impairs steroidogenesis and angiogenesis in swine granulosa cells in vitro植物雌激素槲皮素会损害类固醇生成,在猪颗粒细胞体外血管生成.pdfVIP

Hindawi Publishing Corporation Journal of Biomedicine and Biotechnology Volume 2009, Article ID 419891, 8 pages doi:10.1155/2009/419891 Research Article The Phytoestrogen Quercetin Impairs Steroidogenesis and Angiogenesis in Swine Granulosa Cells In Vitro Sujen Eleonora Santini, Giuseppina Basini, Simona Bussolati, and Francesca Grasselli Dipartimento di Produzioni Animali, Biotecnologie Veterinarie, Qualita e Sicurezza degli Alimenti-Sezione di Fisiologia Veterinaria, ` Universita di Parma, Via del Taglio 10, 43126 Parma, Italy ` Correspondence should be addressed to Giuseppina Basini, basini@unipr.it Received 11 February 2009; Revised 7 April 2009; Accepted 22 April 2009 Recommended by Shoichiro Ono Experimental evidence documents that nutritional phytoestrogens may interact with reproductive functions but the exact mechanism of action is still controversial. Since quercetin is one of the main flavonoids in livestock nutrition, we evaluated its possible effects on cultured swine granulosa cell proliferation, steroidogenesis, and redox status. Moreover, since angiogenesis is essential for follicle development, the effect of the flavonoid on Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor output by granulosa cells was also taken into account. Our data evidence that quercetin does not affect granulosa cell growth while it inhibits progesterone production and modifies estradiol 17β production in a dose-related manner. Additionally, the flavonoid interferes with the angiogenic process by inhibiting VEGF production as well as by altering redox status. Since steroidogenesis and angiogenesis are strictly involved in follicular development, these findings appear particularl