Effects of standardized phytoestrogen on Taiwanese menopausal women.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the effects of standardized soy extract on climacteric symptoms, lipid profiles, bone markers, and serum isoflavone concentration in healthy Taiwanese postmenopausal women.


METHODS
A multicenter, open-labeled, randomized, prospective, comparative study design was used. A total of 130 outpatients who had undergone natural menopause were randomly administered either 70 mg or 35 mg soy extract daily for 24 weeks.


RESULTS
The evidence suggests that the soy extract treatment that was administered to both groups for 1 month could help reduce climacteric scores (reductions of 19.66% [p<0.01] and 18.85% [p<0.01] in the 35 mg and 70 mg groups compared with baseline, respectively), and the efficacy was more potent after 6 months of treatment. Soy isoflavone significantly reduced the total cholesterol (reductions of 4.50% [p<0.01] and 3.06% [p<0.05] in the 35 mg and 70 mg groups, respectively) and low density lipoprotein cholesterol levels (reductions of 4.67% [p<0.05] and 5.09% [p<0.05] in the 35 mg and 70 mg groups, respectively) in patients with total cholesterol > 200 mg/dL after 6 months of treatment. In patients with high bone turnover (urinary deoxypyridinoline/creatinine > 7.4 nM/mM), soy extract treatment reduced the deoxypyridinoline/creatinine level by 10.53% (p<0.05) and 11.58% (p<0.05) in the 35 mg and 70 mg groups, respectively. Serum levels of isoflavone increased in both groups after 6 months of treatment.


CONCLUSIONS
Soy extract is highly efficacious at relieving menopausal symptoms and demonstrates a positive effect on the cardiovascular system and skeleton.
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Taipei Veterans General Hospital and National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan. tsyang@vghtpe.gov.tw
Tzay-Shing
TS
Yang
Sung-Yuan
SY
Wang
Yu-Cheng
YC
Yang
Chu-Hui
CH
Su
Fa-Kung
FK
Lee
Su-Chee
SC
Chen
Chao-Yang
CY
Tseng
Hei-Jen
HJ
Jou
Jian-Pei
JP
Huang
Ko-En
KE
Huang
D000596:Amino Acids / Q000097:blood / Q000187:drug effects; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood*; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL / Q000097:blood / Q000187:drug effects; D003404:Creatinine / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D019833:Genistein / Q000097:blood; D019584:Hot Flashes / Q000188:drug therapy; D006801:Humans; D007529:Isoflavones / Q000097:blood; D008875:Middle Aged; D048789:Phytoestrogens / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D017698:Postmenopause / Q000097:blood / Q000187:drug effects*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013025:Glycine max
D000596:Amino Acids; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL; D007529:Isoflavones; D048789:Phytoestrogens; C004742:daidzein; C036020:deoxypyridinoline; D002784:Cholesterol; D003404:Creatinine; D019833:Genistein