title: beta-Glucuronidase levels in patients with fibrocystic breast disease.
abstract: Certain enzymes in tissues and body fluids may, through reversal of the detoxification process, influence the composition and availability of steroid hormones, toxins, and carcinogens. The ubiquitous enzyme beta-glucuronidase, which hydrolyzes glucuronide conjugates, thereby reversing one of the main detoxification and excretion pathways, was found to vary in concentration in different cysts over a 300-fold range. The distribution was a continuum, devoid of discrete sub-populations. Evidence obtained on selected cyst fluids of high and low beta-glucuronidase activities indicated that the level of the enzyme significantly influenced the ratio of unconjugated: glucuronidated estradiol. The patients with fibrocystic breast disease fell into 2 distinct subpopulations on the basis of their serum beta-glucuronidase activity. In one group the activity was near normal, while in the second group the average serum beta-glucuronidase activity was 3-fold higher than in the women who did not have benign breast disease.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004958:Estradiol / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000032:analysis; D005122:Exudates and Transudates / Q000201:enzymology; D005260:Female; D005348:Fibrocystic Breast Disease / Q000201:enzymology*; D005966:Glucuronidase / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged
chemical_list: C025482:estradiol-3-glucuronide; D004958:Estradiol; D005966:Glucuronidase