epiglucan and daidzein

Recent studies suggest that some of the clinical effectiveness of soy or daidzein, which is a type of isoflavone, may be attributed to a person's ability to produce equol from daidzein. Equol, which is a metabolite of one of the major soybean isoflavones called daidzein, is produced in the gastrointestinal tract by certain intestinal microbiota where present. Habitual dietary patterns may alter the intestinal bacterial profile, and influence the metabolism of isoflavones and the production of equol. Fructooligosaccharides (FOS) have a prebiotic activity as well as being a dietary fibre. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether FOS supplementation increases equol production in equol producers and stimulates equol production in equol non-producers in Japanese postmenopausal women.. A soy challenge was used to assess equol-producer status prior to the start of the study in healthy postmenopausal Japanese women. The study involved 4 separate groups in randomised crossover design. First, subjects were classified as equol producers (n = 25) or non-producers (n = 18), and then they were randomly assigned to the FOS or control group. All subjects received a daily dose of 37 mg isoflavone conjugates in the capsule (21 mg aglycone form) and either FOS (5 g/day) or sucrose as control, in a randomised crossover study design. Equol -production was assessed by testing the serum and urine before and after the 2-week supplementation period.. The analyses were conducted on 34 subjects completed the study, 21 (61.8%) were classified as equol producers, and 13 (38.2%) as non-producers. Significant differences were observed in the interaction effect of time × equol state after 1 week of intervention (p = 0.006). However there were no effects after 2 weeks of intervention (p = 0.516). Finally, in both equol producers and non-producers, FOS supplementation did not affect the serum equol concentration or the urinary equol to daidzein concentration ratios.. We have reported that FOS intervention (5 g/day for 2 weeks) does not significantly modulate the capacity of intestinal microbiota to produce equol in postmenopausal Japanese women, in either equol producers or non-producers in this pilot study. Further larger investigations that explore the roles of specific intestinal microbiota in equol production will enable the establishment of dietary conditions that are required to enhance equol production.

Topics: beta-Glucans; Biomarkers; Cross-Over Studies; Dietary Supplements; Equol; Female; Glycine max; Humans; Intestinal Mucosa; Intestines; Isoflavones; Japan; Middle Aged; Oligosaccharides; Osteoporosis, Postmenopausal; Pilot Projects; Postmenopause; Prebiotics; Seeds

Isoflavones in soybeans are well-known phytoestrogens. Soy isoflavones present in conjugated forms are converted to aglycone forms during processing and storage. Isoflavone aglycones (IFAs) of soybeans in human diets have poor solubility in water, resulting in low bioavailability and bioactivity. Enzyme-mediated glycosylation is an efficient and environmentally friendly way to modify the physicochemical properties of soy IFAs. In this study, we determined the optimal reaction conditions for

Topics: beta-Glucans; Biological Availability; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; Deinococcus; Escherichia coli; Genetic Vectors; Genistein; Glucosyltransferases; Glycine max; Glycosylation; Isoflavones; Mass Spectrometry; Phytoestrogens; Plant Extracts

The objective of this study was to evaluate the changes in oligosaccharides and isoflavone aglycone content in soymilk during fermentation with commercial kefir culture. Soymilk was fermented with kefir culture at 25 °C for 30 h. The counts of lactic acid bacteria, Lactococcus lactis, Leuconostoc sp and yeasts; measurements of pH, acidity, α-galactosidase and β-glucosidase activity, sugar and isoflavone contents were performed at the intervals of time. In the fermented soymilk, the lactic acid bacteria counts increased from 7.6 log to 9.1 CFU g(-1), pH reached to 4.9 and lactic acid reached 0.34 g 100  g(- 1). The α-galactosidase was produced (0.016 AU g(-1)) with 100% raffinose and 92% stachyose hydrolysis being observed after the depletion of galactose, glucose and sucrose. Kefir culture produced β-glucosidase (0.0164 AU g(-1)), resulting in 100% bioconversion of glycitin and daidzin and 89% bioconversion of genistin into the corresponding aglycones. The fermented soymilk presented 1.67 μmol g(-1) of daidzein, 0.28 μmol g(-1) of glicitein and 1.67 μmol g (-1) of genistein.

Topics: alpha-Galactosidase; beta-Glucans; beta-Glucosidase; Cell Survival; Colony Count, Microbial; Cultured Milk Products; Fermentation; Food Handling; Food Microbiology; Genistein; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; Hydrolysis; Isoflavones; Lactococcus lactis; Leuconostoc; Levilactobacillus brevis; Oligosaccharides; Raffinose; Saccharomyces cerevisiae; Soy Milk

Cachexia, a negative prognostic factor, worsens a patient's quality of life. We established 2 novel cachexia models with the human stomach cancer cell line MKN-45, which was subcloned to produce potent cachexia-inducing cells by repeating the xenografts in immune-deficient mice. After subsequent xenografts, we isolated potent cachexia-inducing cells (MKN45cl85 and 85As2mLuc). Xenografts of MKN45cl85 cells in mice led to substantial weight loss and reduced adipose tissue and musculature volumes, whereas xenografts of 85As2mLuc cells resulted in highly metastatic and cachectic mice. Surgical removal of tumor tissues helped the mice regain body-weight in both mouse models. In vitro studies using these cells showed that isoflavones reduced their proliferation, implying that the isoflavones possess antiproliferative effects of these cancer cell lines. Isoflavone treatment on the models induced tumor cytostasis, attenuation of cachexia, and prolonged survival whereas discontinuation of the treatment resulted in progressive tumor growth and weight loss. The inhibitory effects of tumor growth and weight loss by isoflavones were graded as soy isoflavone aglycone AglyMax > daidzein > genistein. These results demonstrated that the 2 novel cachectic mouse models appear useful for analyzing the mechanism of cancer cachexia and monitoring the efficacy of anticachectic agents.

Topics: Animals; beta-Glucans; Cachexia; Cell Line, Tumor; Cell Proliferation; Disease Models, Animal; Female; Genistein; Humans; Isoflavones; Mice; Mice, Inbred BALB C; Neoplasms, Experimental; Stomach Neoplasms; Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays