Description
Equol is a non-steroidal estrogen produced from the metabolism of the isoflavonoid phytoestrogen daidzen by human intestinal microflora.The estrogen receptor (ER) agonist activity of the naturally occurring (S)-enantiomer (EC50= 85 and 65nM for human ERalpha and ERbeta, respectively) is similar to that of genistein but exceeds that of daidzein.(S)-Equol preferentially binds ERbeta (Ki= 0.73nM) and demonstrates approximately 9-fold lower affinity for ERalpha (Ki= 6.41nM).(S)-equol is also a potent antagonist of dihydrotestosterone, which has important implications for prostate cancer and other androgen-mediated pathologies