Effects of Hormone Therapy and Flavonoids Capable on Reversal of Menopausal Immune Senescence

Vrachnis, Nikolaos; Zygouris, Dimitrios; Vrachnis, Dionysios; Antonakopoulos, Nikolaos; Fotiou, Alexandros; Panagopoulos, Periklis; Kolialexi, Aggeliki; Pappa, Kalliopi; Mastorakos, George; Iliodromiti, Zoi

doi:10.3390/nu13072363

Open AccessReview

Effects of Hormone Therapy and Flavonoids Capable on Reversal of Menopausal Immune Senescence

by

Nikolaos Vrachnis

^1,2,3,*,†

,

Dimitrios Zygouris

^2,†

,

Dionysios Vrachnis

⁴,

Nikolaos Antonakopoulos

¹,

Alexandros Fotiou

⁵

,

Periklis Panagopoulos

¹,

Aggeliki Kolialexi

⁶,

Kalliopi Pappa

⁷,

George Mastorakos

⁸ and

Zoi Iliodromiti

⁹

¹

Third Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Attikon Hospital, 12462 Athens, Greece

²

Research Centre in Obstetrics and Gynecology, Hellenic Society of Obstetric and Gynecologic Emergency, 11528 Athens, Greece

³

Vascular Biology, Molecular and Clinical Sciences Research Institute, St George’s University of London, London SW17 0RE, UK

⁴

Department of Clinical Therapeutics, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Alexandra Hospital, 11528 Athens, Greece

⁵

Department of Gynecologic Oncology, Metaxa Memorial Cancer Hospital, 18537 Piraeus, Greece

⁶

Department of Medical Genetics, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 11527 Athens, Greece

⁷

First Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Alexandra Hospital, 11528 Athens, Greece

⁸

Unit of Endocrinology, Diabetes Mellitus and Metabolism, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Aretaieion Hospital, 11528 Athens, Greece

⁹

Neonatal Department, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Aretaieio Hospital, 11528 Athens, Greece

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

^†

These authors contributed equally to this work.

Nutrients 2021, 13(7), 2363; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13072363

Submission received: 28 April 2021 / Revised: 19 June 2021 / Accepted: 7 July 2021 / Published: 10 July 2021

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nutrition Challenges for Middle-Aged and Older Women)

Download Versions Notes

Abstract

Menopause, probably the most important natural change in a woman’s life and a major component of female senescence, is characterized, inter alia, by cessation of ovarian estrogen and progesterone production, resulting in a gradual deterioration of the female immune system. Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is used in postmenopausal women to relieve some of the peri- and postmenopausal symptoms, while there is also evidence that the therapy may additionally partially reverse menopausal immune senescence. Flavonoids, and especially isoflavones, are widely used for the treatment of menopausal symptoms, although it is not at present clear whether they can reverse or alleviate other menopausal changes. HRT reverses the menopausal CD4/CD8 ratio and also limits the general peri- and postmenopausal inflammatory state. Moreover, the increased levels of interleukins (IL)-1β, IL-6, and IL-8, as well as of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) are decreased after the initiation of HRT. However, some reports show no effect of HRT on IL-4, IL-10, and IL-12. It is thus evident that the molecular pathways connecting HRT and female immune senescence need to be clarified. Interestingly, recent studies have suggested that the anti-inflammatory properties of isoflavones possibly interact with inflammatory cytokines when applied in menopause treatments, thereby potentially reversing immune senescence. This narrative review presents the latest data on the effect of menopausal therapies, including administration of flavonoid-rich products, on age-associated immune senescence reversal with the aim of revealing possible directions for future research and treatment development.

Keywords: flavonoids; isoflavones; hormone replacement therapy; menopause; immune senescence; inflammation; inflammatory cytokines; immune system

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Vrachnis, N.; Zygouris, D.; Vrachnis, D.; Antonakopoulos, N.; Fotiou, A.; Panagopoulos, P.; Kolialexi, A.; Pappa, K.; Mastorakos, G.; Iliodromiti, Z. Effects of Hormone Therapy and Flavonoids Capable on Reversal of Menopausal Immune Senescence. Nutrients 2021, 13, 2363. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13072363

AMA Style

Vrachnis N, Zygouris D, Vrachnis D, Antonakopoulos N, Fotiou A, Panagopoulos P, Kolialexi A, Pappa K, Mastorakos G, Iliodromiti Z. Effects of Hormone Therapy and Flavonoids Capable on Reversal of Menopausal Immune Senescence. Nutrients. 2021; 13(7):2363. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13072363

Chicago/Turabian Style

Vrachnis, Nikolaos, Dimitrios Zygouris, Dionysios Vrachnis, Nikolaos Antonakopoulos, Alexandros Fotiou, Periklis Panagopoulos, Aggeliki Kolialexi, Kalliopi Pappa, George Mastorakos, and Zoi Iliodromiti. 2021. "Effects of Hormone Therapy and Flavonoids Capable on Reversal of Menopausal Immune Senescence" Nutrients 13, no. 7: 2363. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13072363

APA Style

Vrachnis, N., Zygouris, D., Vrachnis, D., Antonakopoulos, N., Fotiou, A., Panagopoulos, P., Kolialexi, A., Pappa, K., Mastorakos, G., & Iliodromiti, Z. (2021). Effects of Hormone Therapy and Flavonoids Capable on Reversal of Menopausal Immune Senescence. Nutrients, 13(7), 2363. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13072363

Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

Article Menu

Effects of Hormone Therapy and Flavonoids Capable on Reversal of Menopausal Immune Senescence

Abstract

Share and Cite

Article Metrics

Article Access Statistics

Further Information

Guidelines

MDPI Initiatives

Follow MDPI