Abstract
The role of human intestinal bacteria is indispensable for the metabolic activation of phytoestrogenic precursor lignans. This review summarized recent researches on the in vitro intestinal bacteria transformation of lignan precursors, secoisolariciresinol diglucoside (SDG), arctiin, pinoresinol diglucoside (PDG), and their aglycones, to mammalian lignans enterodiol (END) and enterolactone (ENL). The isolation and characterization of several bacteria from human feces, responsible for the related reactions were also described.
