BACKGROUND In the literature, supplement of soy aglycons of isoflavone as estrogen agonists in improvement of serum biochemical attributes, liver antioxidative capacities and vaginal epithelium protection has been meagerly investigated. In this study, ovariectomized (OVX) rats were used as an animal model to simulate post-menopausal status. Supplementary health benefits of soy aglycons of isofl...

Human clinical trials targeted at preventing gains in body weight using soy protein and isoflavones are limited to adults and yield conflicting results. We hypothesized that daily intake of soy protein/isoflavones would attenuate gains in body weight to a greater extent than a casein-based control in 18 to 19 year-old females. To test this hypothesis, we conducted a randomized, double blind, pl...

PURPOSE We describe the effects of soy isoflavone consumption on prostate specific antigen (PSA), hormone levels, total cholesterol, and apoptosis in men with localized prostate cancer. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS We conducted a double-blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled trial to examine the effect of soy isoflavone capsules (80 mg/d of total isoflavones, 51 mg/d aglucon units) on seru...

Given the interest in the vascular effects of both soyfoods and soy isoflavones, the purpose of this short review is to evaluate clinical trials that have examined the effects of isoflavone-rich soy products on the novel cardiovascular risk factors, cellular adhesion molecules, and pro-inflammatory cytokines. A total of 14 randomized clinical studies were assessed. From the data evaluated, evid...

High-performance liquid chromatographic methods were developed for the isolation and quantitative determination of the group B soyasaponins, including 2,3-dihydro-2,5-dihydroxy-6-methyl-4H-pyran-4-one (DDMP)-conjugated soyasaponins alphag, betag, and betaa, and their non-DDMP counterparts, soyasaponins V, I, and II, respectively, with formononetin used as the internal standard. The limits of qu...

Soy diets influence cell growth, regulate lipid metabolism to lower blood cholesterol, and prevent bone losses. These biological effects are most likely due to effects of soy phytochemicals on the expression of genes. In this study, we fed 12 female obese Zucker rats (fa/fa) with a low- or a high-isoflavone soy protein diet and compared the gene expression with animals on a casein diet. Rat liv...

Epidemiologic associations suggest that populations consuming substantial amounts of dietary soy exhibit a lower risk of prostate cancer. A 20-week randomized, phase II, crossover trial was conducted in 32 men with asymptomatic prostate cancer. The crossover involved 8 weeks each of soy bread (SB) and soy-almond bread (SAB). The primary objective was to investigate isoflavone bioavailability an...

Isoflavone content in various parts of six soybean cultivars and soybean sprout during germination was analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography. The parts analyzed were seed coat, cotyledon, and axis for seeds and whole sprout, root, hypocotyl, and cotyledon for sprout. Two cultivars, Aga3 which is known to have the smallest seed size and the highest isoflavone content among the Korea...

Background Soy protein with isoflavones appears to have an adverse effect on thyroid function, but it is not known whether it is the protein or isoflavone component that is deleterious. The effect of isoflavone-free soy on thyroid function was determined in patients with subclinical hypothyroidism, with a secondary aim of assessing its effect on cardiovascular risk indices. Methods This was a...

The association between soy product intake and the occurrence of hot flashes was examined in a cohort of 1,106 female residents of Takayama, Gifu, JAPAN: The women were aged 35-54 years and premenopausal at their entry into the study in 1992. Diet, including intake of soy products and isoflavones, was assessed by means of a validated semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire at study entry....