A kinetic study on the lactoperoxidase catalyzed oxidation of estrogens

Lactoperoxidase, which is produced in mammary glands, is proposed to be involved in carcinogenesis, because of its ability to react with estrogenic molecules, oxidizing them to free radicals. In the present study the reactivity towards six species (estradiol, ethynylestradiol, estriol, estrone, pregnenolone and mestranol) was investigated by means of a NADH-coupled system. The enzyme activity towards estradiol, ethynylestradiol, estriol and estrone did not vary much, suggesting that the different substituents in the D-ring of the steroid had little effect on the reaction. A somewhat higher K (m)-value was obtained with estriol; possibly because of a more effective splitting of the enzyme-substrate complex into products. Pregnenolone, without resonance in the A-ring, and a methyl group in 19-position, did not react with the enzyme, in spite of having the proposed essential hydroxyl group in 3-position. Mestranol, with a methoxy group in 3-position, did not react with the enzyme either, supporting the suggestion that lactoperoxidase reacts with the 3-hydroxyl group of the estrogens.