Phytoestrogen metabolites are much more active than phytoestrogens themselves in increasing prostaglandin F2α synthesis via prostaglanin F2α synthase-like 2 stimulation in bovine endometrium

Phytoestrogens have recently been suggested to be the cause of infertility by stimulating luteolytic prostaglandin (PG) F2α secretion from endometrium in cattle. The purpose of this study was to examine the enzymatic and molecular mechanisms involved in the preferential induction of PGF2α synthesis by phytoestrogens, and whether phytoestrogens influence endometrial cell viability. Cultured bovine endometrial epithelial and stromal cells were exposed to phytoestrogens (daidzein and genistein) and their metabolites (equol and p-ethyl phenol) for 24 h. Prostaglandin F2α and PGE2 were stimulated by phytoestrogens in both stromal and epithelial cells, with a preference for PGF2α synthesis in epithelial cells (P < 0.001). Although RT-PCR and Western Blot analyses did not reveal the influence of phytoestrogens on either gene expression or protein level of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and PGE2 synthase (PGES) in stromal and epithelial cells (P > 0.05), the stimulative effects of equol and p-ethyl phenol on PGF2α synthase-like 2 (PGFSL2) gene expression and protein level were observed only in epithelial cells (P < 0.05). The same compounds did not affect PGFSL2 gene expression and protein in stromal cells (P > 0.05). Exposure to phytoestrogens and their metabolites decreased cell viability in both stromal and epithelial cells. Stromal cell viability decreased to 50% of the control and was more evident than that in epithelial cells (P < 0.001). The overall results suggest that infertility in cattle, caused by phytoestrogen-dependent preferential stimulation of luteolytic PGF2α synthesis, is caused by increasing PGFSL2 in epithelial cells, and by decreasing stromal cell viability, which are the main source of luteotropic PGE2 production.