Bacterial metabolism of edible soybeans may reduce risk factors for dementia

It was embargoed for release until 7 am on Thursday, October. 22nd 2020

Pittsburgh, October 22, 2020-According to a new discovery led by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School, the biotransformers produced after ingestion of dietary soybeans are a major cause of dementia with the help of appropriate bacteria. Public health that may reduce risk factors.

Their study was published in the journal today Alzheimer’s disease and dementia: translational research and clinical interventionReported that older Japanese men and women who produce equol, a biotransformer of edible soybeans produced by certain types of gut flora, show lower levels of leukoaraiosis in the brain. doing.

“White matter lesions are a significant risk factor for cognitive decline, dementia, and death from all causes,” said Akira Sekikawa, MD, Associate Professor of Epidemiology at Pit Public Health, the lead author. “We found that people who couldn’t produce equol had 50% more white matter lesions than those who could produce equol. This is a surprisingly significant effect.”

To obtain this result, Sekikawa’s research team measured blood equol levels in 91 elderly Japanese participants with normal cognition. Participants were categorized by equol production and brain imaging was performed 6-9 years later to detect white matter lesions and levels of amyloid beta deposits that may be the molecular cause of Alzheimer’s disease.

Researchers found that equol production did not appear to affect the levels of amyloid beta deposited in the brain, but was associated with a reduction in the amount of white matter lesions. Sekikawa’s team also found that high levels of isoflavones, a soy nutrient that is metabolized to equol, do not affect white lesions or levels of amyloid beta if equol is not produced.

According to Sekikawa, the ability to produce equol from soy isoflavones could be the key to deriving health benefits from a soy-rich diet, and his team previously said that equol production is a risk of heart disease. Has been shown to be associated with a decline in Since heart disease is strongly associated with cognitive decline and dementia, equol production may help protect the heart as well as the aged brain.

Japanese epidemiological studies of regular soy intake have shown that dietary intake of soy isoflavones is associated with a reduced risk of heart disease and dementia. However, most clinical trials in the United States have failed to show this.

Sekikawa believes this discrepancy may be due to the microbiome-40-70% of Japanese port bacteria capable of converting dietary isoflavones to equol, compared to only 20-30% of Americans. ..

Equol supplements can someday be combined with existing diet-based preventive strategies that may reduce the risk of dementia, especially the diet to stop high blood pressure (DASH) and the Mediterranean diet, Sekikawa said. Stated.

Sekikawa wants to evaluate the neuroprotective effects of equol supplements in future randomized clinical trials, while alerting those who may want to buy equol supplements to stop dementia. I will.

“While this type of study has always been in the spotlight, we can’t prove that equol prevents dementia until there is well-evidenced randomized clinical trials,” he said. It was.

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Other authors of this study include Dr. Aya Higashiyama, Dr. Masafumi Ihara, Dr. Makoto Watanabe, Dr. Chikage Tsunoda, and Dr. Yoshihiro Kokubo. , And Yoshihiro Miyamoto, MD, All of the National Cardiovascular Research Center. Brian J. Lopresti, MS, Howard Eisenstein, MD, Ph.D. , Yue Hwan Chan, Ph.D. , Zeming You, MD, MPH, Chester Matisse, Ph.D. , William Klank, MD, Ph.D. , Oscar L. Lopez, MD, Lewis H. Kuller, MD, Dr. PH, and Chendi Cui, Ph.D. , All pits.

This study was supported by the National Institute of Health Sciences / National Institute on Aging grant RF1AG051615.

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