Phytoestrogens have generated interest in human health in view of their potential effect to reduce the risk of developing chronic diseases. Serum levels of phytoestrogens have been proposed as an alternative to measure the exposure of phytoestrogens. We evaluated the use of serum as a biomarker of phytoestrogen's intake in healthy women. Phytoestrogens in serum (luteolin, kaempferol, equol, biochanin A, formononetin, quercetin, naringenin, coumestrol, secoisolariciresinol, genistein, matairesinol, enterolactone, enterodiol, daidzein, glycitein and resveratrol) were analyzed by HPLC-ESI-MS. Subjects were asked to recall all foods and beverages consumed the previous 24 h. Association of dietary intake and serum concentrations was performed by Spearman correlation. Correlations were found for naringenin (r = 0.47, p < 0.001), luteolin (r = 0.4 p < 0.001), genistein (r = 0.32, p < 0.01) enterolactone (r = 0.35, p = 0.0553), coumestrol (r = 0.26, p = 0.0835) and resveratrol (r = 0.29, p = 0.0517). Serum levels as biomarkers of intake along with a 24-h recall would be useful in order to investigate the relationship between phytoestrogens and health.
Keywords: 24-h recall; HPLC-ESI-MS; coumestrol; flavonoids; lignans; resveratrol.