Breast Augmentation by The Effect of Phytoestrogen
The catholic University of Korea, Saint Mary’s Hospital
Orthopaedic Department, Seoul, Korea
Jin Wha Chung, M.D.
The phytoestrogen has the positive effect in osteoporosis, cardiovascular diseases, facial
flushing and other postmenopausal symptoms. And the purpose of this study was to evaluate
the effect of phytoestrogen in increasing breast size clinically and histological.
The result show meaningful augmentation of the breast in group taken phytoestrogen tablets
 and in mouse study, study group showed more lobules and more duct cells in lobules
than control group histological.
The results mean phytoestrogen has weak estrogenic effect on the lobular structures of the
breast tissue and finally increasing their size without any significant side effect.
1. Introduction
Women’s breasts increase during adolescence and pregnancy, and to a lesser extent the same
phenomenon occurs during the menstrual period. All of these are concerned with female
hormones.
The breast increase resulting from hormones has been reported clinically among patients who
take estrogen hormones, antidepressants and contraceptives. Furthermore, it is known that
substances such as female hormones, prolactin and growth factors play a role in triggering these
reactions, stimulating estrogen receptors distributed across lobules and modulating cell division
and apoptosis.
Breast-augmentation surgery has been performed on premonopausal women for the purpose of
beauty enhancement, that is, to increase the size of the breasts. However, issues such as high cost,
post-surgery infection attributed to the materials inserted within the breasts, tissue rejection, have
effectively limited the use of such procedures. Additionally, in recent years the use of estrogen, a
female hormone taken by menopausal women, has decreased due to the increasing occurrence of
breast and uterine cancers resulting from long-term use of the hormone.
Compared to estrogen, phytoestrogen originates in plants. Recently many foods and extracts
containing this substance have been used for the treatment of menopausal symptoms, and it has
been shown that phytoestrogen is effective in decreasing the frequencies of breast and uterine
cancers, and in preventing osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease. Specifically, for Asian people
such as Chinese, and for Japanese living in the United States, the frequency of breast cancer is
low. Moreover, the occurrence of flushing--one of the menopausal symptoms--now stands at just
20%, dramatically lower than 80% of Western women. It is believed that one of the most
significant factors is that phytoestrogen is contained in many foods common to Asian diets. Since
the 1980s, research on phytoestrogen has been led by American and European governments, as
well as by manufacturers of soy-based foods. Thereafter, many menopausal women have taken
phytoestrogen as a natural alternative in light of their concerns about the side effects of the
hormonal treatment previously used. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the United
States declared in 1999 that foods containing soy proteins in excess of 25 grams (such as soy,
soybean milk, tofu, etc.) have low amounts of saturated fatty acid and cholesterol, and that they are
effective for preventing cardiac diseases. Lamartiniere et al. (1998) claimed that an injection of
genistein, a type of phytoestrogen, into a mouse less than 50 days old promoted the differentiation
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and maturation of mammary glands and thus contributed to reducing the occurrence of cancer
against a carcinogen. Wang et al. (1995) claimed that an injection of the isoflavone formonenelin
into the mouse whose ovary was removed led to the increase of prolactin in blood plasma and thus
the augmentation of lobules.
During our experiments in the induction of osteogenesis against osteoporosis, we speculated that if
for young women who are premenopausal, taking phytoestrogen promotes the differentiation and
development of mammary glands and thus augments the breasts, it could be an alternative against
breast-augmentation surgery--which despite its wide use has been rife with side effects--and
against other medicines. Therefore, we devised this experiment.
2. Methods
1. Phytoestrogen tablets
 
One tablet weighs
approximately one gram (0.996±0.023 gram) and is composed of substances extracted from hops,
buckwheat, fennel seed, rye, barley, etc. In order to analyse the ingredients of this product, it was
grounded with a mortar and crushed with a homogenizer filled with 1 liter of 100% methanol,
whereupon the effective substances within it were extracted. All these processes were repeated
three times and the supernatant was collected, concentrated and then redissolved in small amount
of methanol for a final concentration of 50%. Subsequently it was loaded on a column saturated
with hydrophobic interaction chromatography resin. Consequently we confirmed through
chromatography that this product contains a large amount of genistein and diadzein.
2. Subjects and Methods
1) Experiment with premenopausal women
We had thirty premenopausal women ages 24 to 35 (mean age 27.3) take the
tablets
for 6 months continuously. They took 10 tablets daily--five in the morning and five in the
afternoon--30 minutes after each respective meal. Participants’ weights and breast sizes were
measured at the beginning prior to taking tablets, and again at three months and six months after
taking them. The breast size was measured from [illegible] to the nipples in a standing posture, and
the values of liver (SGOT/PT) and renal (BUN/Creatinine) function and cholesterol were
compared through blood tests.
2) Animal experiment with mice
Thirty female mice were divided into two groups: an experimental and a control group. They
were 12 weeks old, 140-200 grams in weight, and of the Sprague-Dawley strain. For the control
group we fed an assorted feed without beans (Shin Chon Feed, Kimpo Kyunggido) and tap water,
while for the experimental group we added 10 ground-up
tablets per day to the same diet
used for the control group. We obtained lobules from the slaughtered mice after three months’
experiment. The lobules thus obtained were fixed by soaking in 10% formalin solution for 12
hours. Tissue slices 5 µm thick were obtained by common tissue-production procedures and
subjected to hematoxylin & eosin (H&P) staining [some words illegible]. We first examined the
nipple tissues under 40× magnification and, based on that, compared the number of lobules located
in hypodermic muscular coat. We also compared the number of cells that are constituent of lobules
under 100× magnification.
3.Results
The mean weight of 30 women was increased from 53.7 kg at the beginning to 54.4 kg in six
months, and mean breast size increased from 84.3 cm ( 33.19 inches) at the beginning to 87.9 cm
(34.61 inches) in six months. In order to exclude the effect of breast augmentation by the
increased weight of the participants, we compared results at intervals of three months: the
Page 3
beginning, three months and six months. Although there was no significant difference in breast
augmentation between the 1
st
3 months-0.7371 p=0.3659) and next 3 months (-1.0665, p=0.1122),
the difference between the 1st months and 6th month was significant (1.8036, p=0.0038).
Statistically, we used the Bonferroni method for p value, with a negative estimate taken to indicate
that breast size measured at a later time was greater than one measured in the former time (Table 1,
2). We checked the items listed on the blood test before and after the experiments, and no
significant difference or abnormal condition was examined.
Meanwhile, in terms of the histological tests obtained from the mouse experiment, under 40x
magnification we could identify the increasing number of mammary glands at six months
compared to those at the beginning, and under 100x magnification we could see the increase of
cells constituent of mammary glands (Fig. 1, 2).
Table 1. Mean weight at each interval
Fig. 1. Cells of mouse breast tissue under 40x magnification
Fig. 2. Cells of mouse breast tissue under 100x magnification (A: beginning, B: 3 months)
Table 1
Time
N
Mean
Std Dev
Minimum
Maximum
1
30
53.7222222
7.2222058
47.5000000
69.5000000
2
30
53.3888889
7.0388118
47.0000000
69.0000000
3
30
54.3888889
7.4257003
48.0000000
70.5000000
Table 2
Effect time _time weight
Estimate
Std Error
DF t Value Pr>t
Adjustment ADJ
P
Time
1
2
53.70
-0.7371
0.4496
15 -1.64
0.1220 Bonferroni
0.3659
Time
1
3
53.70
-1.8036
0.4562
15 - 3.95 0.0013 Bonferroni
0.0038
Time
2
3
53.70
-1.0665
0.4670
15
- 2.25
0.0374 Bonferroni
0.1122
FIG . 1
Cells of mouse breast tissue under 40x magnification
(
A: beginning, B: 3 months)
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FIG. 2
Cells of mouse breast tissue under 100x magnification (A: beginning, B: 3 months)
4. Discussion
Among the various substances that exist within plants, “phytochemical” refers to chemical
substances that affect human health, and phytoestrogen is one such type. Although phytoestrogen
typically does not have the same steroid structure as endogenous estrogen, it shows physiological
characteristics similar to estrogen. Presumably this is attributable to its aromatic A chain of
steroid. Phytoestrogen exists in all kinds of plants. As long as humans consume foods, they are
inevitably exposed to phytoestrogen at all times. Coumestan, lignan and isoflavon are
representative substances of phytoestrogen, and among these the most studied isoflavon is
contained in soy, tofu, etc., with genistein and daidzoin represented. These are absorbed within the
stomach and converted into final products such as cauol
and o-desmethyl-angolensin paraethyphenol. Of these, cauol is most similar to estrogen and
functions by competitively binding with estrogen receptors. Although the affinity of phytoestrogen
is not more than about 1/100,000 compared to endogenous estrogen, its concentration in the body
is 100 times higher than the endogenous estrogen and thus it provides the effect of estrogen.
Meanwhile, phytoestrogen compounds serve as estrogen analogue in low concentrations and
promote cell proliferation, but instead they provide anti-estrogenic effects in relatively high
concentration. Additionally, these isoflavon compounds affect cell proliferation and apoptosis
induction through various external stimulus factors such as mitogen and eyetokin, and this can be
performed without binding with estrogen receptors.
The hormonal alternative treatment can increase bone density by approximately 3.5% to 5%
in pre-and postmenopausal osteoporosis patients. The results of several studies show that in
particular ipriflavon--a synthetic substance of isoflavon in phytoestrogen--helps patients to whom
hormonal alternative treatment cannot be administered. Moreover, it has been shown to be
effective against febrile flushing and atrophic vaginitis resulting from postmenopausal estrogen
deficiency, and has even demonstrated its effectiveness against osteoporosis and cardiovascular
disease. Consequently, research has shown that it can potentially serve as an alternative to the
heretofore common use of estrogen.
Whereas all past research results were obtained through tests using menopausal women as
subjects, the purpose of this experiment was to examine how taking this phytoestrogen benefits
young women of the current day, particularly in terms of breast size. According to this experiment,
taking phytoestrogen is associated with the breast enhancement of menopausal women, and its
mechanism is presumably, as the results of mouse experiment show, the increase in the number of
mammary glands and their constituent cells. Other than that, there were some subjective changes.
Page 5
For instance, women who took phytoestrogen reported that their breast increased, and that their
skin and hair became more beautiful.
Meanwhile, no claim was made regarding side effects resulting from phytoestrogen.
However, according to what has been reported so far, those who have allergies to soy-based foods
may have indigestion or immune response after taking it. Therefore, we recommend that those
who have had allergies to peanuts or soy-based foods in the past be cautious in taking
phytoestrogen.
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