Various “estrogenic substances” can be found in our natural environment. Coincidentally, the biochemical structure of “estrogenic substances” closely resemble that of estrogen, exhibiting a receptor signal similar to estrogen, which is mistakenly recognized as estrogen in the body.
Estrogenic substances can be classified into two main types. 1) One is “polyphenol”, the pigment found red wine, health foods, herbal medicine, and the main ingredients used in various crude drugs. Polyphenols derived from natural plants are called “phytoestrogens”, and are substances with certain properties used successfully throughout the history of man. Currently they are used as medicinal herbs, in herbal medicine, as health foods, or as ingredients in cosmetics. Scinet’s new analytical method, “EstrArray”, makes it possible to investigate and compare the useful properties of various phytoestrogens. 2) The second type of are estrogenic substances are primarily petroleum-based. Known as an “endocrine disruptors” or “environmental hormones“, petroleum-based estrogenic substances emit false estrogenic signals that are harmful to the human body.
Endocrine disrupting substances are generally called “environmental hormones” because they cause undesirable effects in the body such as carcinogenesis and infertility. There are about 60,000 to 70,000 known kinds of petroleum-based raw materials, and about 1,200 new ones are developed each year. “Environmental hormones” can give various wrong signals to the body because they possess properties that allow it to bind to estrogen receptors because part of its structure, by coincidence, resembles the receptors of estrogen.
Currently, in the U.S., it is believed that 1 in 13 women suffer from various disorders (e.g. Disorders of sex development, Infertility, Cerebral dysfunction, Obesity, Autoimmune disease) due to the exposure to these substances during the first 3 months of pregnancy. As a result, the U.S. government has commissioned the EPA (Environment Protection Agency) to fix the problem. In Europe, the EU has established the REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals) regulations. So, the global movement to more closely regulate the use of “environmental hormones” is intensifying.
Until now, because there has been no way to accurately analyze estrogenic substances, they continue to be used unconfirmed, creating major social problems. Scinet’s analytical technique for “estrogenic substances” now makes it possible to accurately measure and analyze the intensity of estrogenic activity and physiological effects due to changes in gene groups by comparing estrogenic substances with estrogen (E 2, 17 β – estradiol), and at extremely low concentrations of target DNA, which have been unidentifiable using conventional in vivo animal experimentation test methods.
In this way, Scinet technology is anticipated to play an important role in making our future lives safer and healthier.