Equol: A Bacterial Metabolite from The Daidzein Isoflavone and Its Presumed Beneficial Health Effects

Epidemiological data suggest that regular intake of isoflavones from soy reduces the incidence of estrogen-dependent and aging-associated disorders, such as menopause symptoms in women, osteoporosis, cardiovascular diseases and cancer. Equol, produced from daidzein, is the isoflavone-derived metabol...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nutrients Vol. 11; no. 9; p. 2231
Main Authors: Mayo, Baltasar, Vázquez, Lucía, Flórez, Ana Belén
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 16.09.2019
MDPI
Subjects:
Animals
antioxidant activity
Apoptosis
Bacteria - enzymology
biochemical pathways
biosynthesis
cardiovascular diseases
Cell cycle
Chronic illnesses
clinical trials
Cyclin-dependent kinases
daidzein
Diet
Enzymes
Equol - metabolism
Gastrointestinal Microbiome
genetic background
health effects assessments
Health Status
human health
Humans
intestinal microorganisms
intestines
Isoflavones - metabolism
Kinases
mechanism of action
menopause
meta-analysis
metabolites
neoplasms
osteoporosis
Peptides
Prostate cancer
Review
Urine
Vegetarianism
women
Spain
daidzein
soy products
equol
isoflavones
gut metabolite
soy
bioactive compound
ISSN:2072-6643, 2072-6643
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Epidemiological data suggest that regular intake of isoflavones from soy reduces the incidence of estrogen-dependent and aging-associated disorders, such as menopause symptoms in women, osteoporosis, cardiovascular diseases and cancer. Equol, produced from daidzein, is the isoflavone-derived metabolite with the greatest estrogenic and antioxidant activity. Consequently, equol has been endorsed as having many beneficial effects on human health. The conversion of daidzein into equol takes place in the intestine via the action of reductase enzymes belonging to incompletely characterized members of the gut microbiota. While all animal species analyzed so far produce equol, only between one third and one half of human subjects (depending on the community) are able to do so, ostensibly those that harbor equol-producing microbes. Conceivably, these subjects might be the only ones who can fully benefit from soy or isoflavone consumption. This review summarizes current knowledge on the microorganisms involved in, the genetic background to, and the biochemical pathways of, equol biosynthesis. It also outlines the results of recent clinical trials and meta-analyses on the effects of equol on different areas of human health and discusses briefly its presumptive mode of action.
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ISSN:2072-6643
2072-6643
DOI:10.3390/nu11092231