The most well-known phytoestrogens (flavonoids, isoflavonoids, lignans, coumestans, stilbenes, and prenylflavonoids) are isoflavonoids, which are important active ingredients in medicinal and food plants. They are highly abundant in the Fabaceae family. More than 1,000 types of isoflavonoids have been isolated from nearly 300 kinds of plants, and more are being discovered through modern analytical methods. Glycosides O and C of isoflavonoids are poorly absorbed in the intestine. They are converted by bacterial esterases and/or β-glycosidase enzymes to aglycones, which are absorbed more efficiently. Their bioavailability shows significant differences due to variation in the intestinal microflora of various races. The compounds formed during their biotransformation are structurally similar to estrogens. In Traditional Chinese medicine, several herbs rich in phytoestrogens are used to prevent and cure various diseases, such as osteoporosis, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, tumors, and inflammation; additionally, 185 herbs are used to treat menopausal symptoms. Some of these herbs can be used to alleviate the unpleasant symptoms of menopause and treat breast and prostate cancer. From a nutritional physiology perspective, the consumption of Glycine max and Vigna unguiculata should be emphasized. Soy has been consumed in China for about 5,000 years while it was introduced to Europe nearly 300 years ago. Soybean cultivation in Hungary dates back only 100 years. The assessment of the efficacy of phytoestrogens is unclear. Although several experimental and molecular biology studies have shown favorable results, studies on humans have not shown prominent therapeutic benefits. However, comparing and interpreting the findings of modern studies might elucidate the therapeutic utility of phytoestrogens.

In previous centuries many women did not even live until their menopause years due to poor economic conditions, deficiencies of medicine, epidemics and wars. Nowadays in the developed countries, people live until they are 75–80 years old, and with the expansion of average age, the number of people affected by menopause and the years spent in that state increase. Nowadays women spend one third of their lives in the menopausal stage. The only effective way to treat unpleasant symptoms for centuries was with the use of herbs, and the knowledge about them spread through oral tradition. In the 20th century, this therapeutic form was pushed into the background by the development of synthetic drug production and the introduction of hormone replacement therapy. Thanks to the influence of media in the 20th century, women began to have the social need for preserving their beauty and youth for as long as they could. Hormone replacement therapy enjoyed great popularity because women were temporarily relieved of their life quality-impairing menopausal symptoms, but years later it turned out that hormone replacement therapy could pose serious risks. A distinct advantage of herbal therapy is the more advantageous side-effect-profile opposite the used synthetics in hormone replacement therapy. Women are therefore happy to turn to valuable and well-tried natural therapies, which have been used for thousands of years. There is growing interest in herbal remedies. Studying the effects of phytoestrogens has now become an active area for research. However, the results of studies in animals and humans are controversial, some sources suggest that phytoestrogens are effective and safe, other authors claim that they are ineffective in menopause or they have particularly dangerous properties, and cannot be recommended to everyone. It is important to address this issue for the sake of health, mental health and safety of women, and so it is necessary to assess the benefits and the risks before applying them. Orv Hetil. 2017; 158(32): 1243–1251.

In order to evaluate the effect of diosmin-hesperidin containing drug on redox balance and Cu, Zn, Fe and Mn concentrations of toxin-injured liver, Wistar albino rats were subjected to thioacetamide administration (500 mg TAA/l in their drinking water) with and without drug (425 mg/kg body weight/day). Animals were treated for 30 days. No significant change in the concentration of Zn, Cu, Mn and Fe in the liver was measured in TAA-treated animals compared to control. Diosmin-hesperidin mixture treatment increased levels of Fe and Zn and decreased concentration of Cu of the liver in TAA-treated animals. These alterations were not significant. Decrease of both the total scavenger capacity (TSC) and the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) in liver homogenates were observed in TAA-treated rats. The diosmin-hesperidin-supplemented diet also significantly decreased the TSC and activity of SOD in liver of both the control and toxin-treated animals. On the basis of results it seems that high dosage of the diosmin-hesperidin mixture induces slight changes in the Cu, Zn, Mn and Fe content of the liver, however it may decrease the scavenger capacity and the activity of SOD when applied either alone or together with thioacetamide.

Absztrakt: A hagyományos kínai orvoslás (HKO) terminológiája aligha értelmezhető az emberi genommal összefüggésben, ezért az emberigenom-program ismeretében a kínai orvoslás figyelme a nyugati orvoslásra irányult. Az elmúlt két évtizedben számos fontos lépést lehetett megfigyelni Kínában a hagyományos kínai és a nyugati orvoslás közelítésével. A kínai kormány támogatja adatbázisok kiépítését, annak érdekében, hogy tisztázzák a génkifejeződések, a jelátviteli utak, a fehérje–fehérje interakciók között lévő kapcsolatokat, és felderítsék a kínai gyógynövények bioaktív komponenseinek hatását ezekre a tényezőkre. A HKO értékei egyre fontosabbá válnak a nyugati orvoslás számára is, mert a molekuláris biológiai terápiák nem váltották be a hozzájuk fűzött reményeket. Orv Hetil. 2018; 159(18): 696–702. The terminology of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is hardly interpretable in the context of human genome, therefore the human genome program attracted attention towards the Western practice of medicine in China. In the last two decades, several important steps could be observed in China in relation to the approach of traditional Chinese and Western medicine. The Chinese government supports the realization of information databases for research in order to clarify the molecular biology level to detect associations between gene expression signal transduction pathways and protein–protein interactions, and the effects of bioactive components of Chinese drugs and their effectiveness. The values of TCM are becoming more and more important for Western medicine as well, because molecular biological therapies did not redeem themselves, e.g., in tumor therapy. Orv Hetil. 2018; 159(18): 696–702.