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Soy isoflavone intake inhibits bone resorption and stimulates bone formation in menopausal women: meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 62, pages 155–161 (2008)Cite this article

Abstract

Objective:

To clarify the effects of isoflavone intake on bone resorption and bone formation.

Methods:

We identified randomized controlled trials related to urinary deoxypyridinoline (Dpyr, a bone resorption marker) and serum bone-specific alkaline phosphatase (BAP, a bone formation marker) listed on MEDLINE (January 1966–April 2006), the Cochrane Controlled Trials Register, EMBASE (1985–January 2006), Science Citation Index and PUBMED (updated till April 2006).

Results:

Nine studies with a total of 432 subjects were selected for meta-analysis. The urinary Dpyr concentration in subjects who consumed isoflavones decreased significantly by −2.08 nmol/mmol (95% confidence interval (CI): −3.82 to −0.34 nmol/mmol) in comparison with that in subjects who did not consume isoflavones. Isoflavone intake vs placebo intake significantly increased serum BAP by 1.48 μg/l (95% CI: 0.22–2.75 μg/l). Decreases in the urinary Dpyr concentration with isoflavone intake of <90 mg/day and with treatment lasting less than 12 weeks were −2.34 nmol/mmol (95% CI: −4.46 to −0.22 nmol/mmol) and −2.03 nmol/mmol (95% CI: −3.20 to −0.85 nmol/mmol), respectively.

Conclusions:

Isoflavone intervention significantly inhibits bone resorption and stimulates bone formation. These favorable effects occur even if <90 mg/day of isoflavones are consumed or the intervention lasts less than 12 weeks.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported in part by a grant from National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 30471448) to Dr Pei-Yu Wang.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Social Medicine and Health Education, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing, China

    D-F Ma & P-Y Wang

  2. Department of Human Pathology, Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Medicine and Engineering, University of Yamanashi, Yamanashi, Japan

    D-F Ma & R Katoh

  3. Department of Nutrition and Food Hygiene, School of Radiation Medicine and Public Health, Soochow University, Suzhou, China

    L-Q Qin

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  1. D-F Ma
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  2. L-Q Qin
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Correspondence to P-Y Wang.

Additional information

Contributors: P-YW and RK contributed to the design of this article. D-FM and L-QQ contributed to the collection of data and statistical analysis, and have also contributed equally to the work. All authors read and approved this article.

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Ma, DF., Qin, LQ., Wang, PY. et al. Soy isoflavone intake inhibits bone resorption and stimulates bone formation in menopausal women: meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Eur J Clin Nutr 62, 155–161 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602748

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