Abstract
The presence of steroid hormones in milk is inevitable, and they can be considered as potential carcinogenic agents for consumers. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the level of 17β-estradiol, progesterone, and hydroxyprogesterone in sixty-nine bovine milk samples, collected from April to September 2020, in Hamadan, Iran. The milk samples were analyzed using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). In this study, the mean contents of 17β-estradiol, progesterone, and hydroxyprogesterone in the milk samples were determined to be 330.5 ± 190.2 pg/ml, 3.57 ± 2.47 ng/ml, and 1.54 ± 0.41 ng/ml, respectively. However, the content of these steroid hormones in milk samples could be considered safe in children and adults, if the milk consumption is assumed to be in the reported range (175–240 ml/daily). Due to the effects of steroid hormones, especially 17β-estradiol, in the etiology of various cancers, regular monitoring of these hormones is recommended in milk and its dairy products in Iran.
Highlights
Milk is one of the most important sources of calcium and protein for the humans that plays the main role in the worldwide food pyramid [1, 2]
Steroid hormones are used to increase milk production and improve reproductive performance in animal husbandry [13]. erefore, it is expected that milk is considered a rich source of endogenous and exogenous steroid hormones, whose content in the milk often exceeds that in the maternal blood plasma. e level of these lipophilic compounds depends on the fat level of the milk [14]
Following 3 min of vortex shaking, the samples were centrifuged and their supernatant was separated and cleaned using solid-phase extractions (SPE). e quantitative analysis of steroid hormones was carried out using competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits (DiaMetra, Spello Perugia, Italy) according to the manufacturer’s instructions
Summary
Milk is one of the most important sources of calcium and protein for the humans that plays the main role in the worldwide food pyramid [1, 2]. The presence of steroid hormones in milk and dairy products is inevitable and can be considered as a threatening factor in consumers [10, 11]. E level of these lipophilic compounds depends on the fat level of the milk [14]. Steroid hormones are used to increase milk production and improve reproductive performance in animal husbandry [13]. Food processing, such as churning and/or heating, does not appear to influence the amount of the steroid hormones [15]
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