Dl. Alekel et al., Isoflavone-rich soy protein isolate attenuates bone loss in the lumbar spine of perimenopausal women, AM J CLIN N, 72(3), 2000, pp. 844-852
Background: No published studies have directly examined the effect of soy p
rotein with isoflavones on bone or bone turnover in perimenopausal women.
Objective: Our objective was to determine the effects of 24 wk of consumpti
on of soy protein isolate with isoflavones (80.4 mg/d) in attenuating bone
loss during the menopausal transition.
Design: Perimenopausal subjects were randomly assigned, double blind, to tr
eatment: isoflavone-rich soy (SPI+; n = 24), isoflavone-poor soy (SPI-; n =
24), or whey (control; n = 21) protein. At baseline and posttreatment, lum
bar spine bone mineral density (BMD) and bone mineral content (BMC) were me
asured by using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. At baseline, midtreatment
, and posttreatment, urinary N-telopeptides and serum bone-specific alkalin
e phosphatase (BAP) were measured.
Results: The percentage change in lumbar spine BMD and BMC, respectively, d
id not differ from zero in the SPI+ or SPI- groups, but loss occurred in th
e control group (-1.28%, P = 0.0041; -1.73%, P = 0.0037). By regression ana
lysis, SPI+ treatment had a positive effect on change in BMD (5.6%; P = 0.0
23) and BMC (10.1%; P = 0.0032). Baseline BMD and BMC (P less than or equal
to 0.0001) negatively affected the percentage change in their respective m
odels; baseline body weight (P = 0.0036) and bone-free lean weight (P = 0.0
16) contributed positively to percentage change in BMD and BMC, respectivel
y. Serum BAP posttreatment was negatively related to percentage change in B
MD (P = 0.0016) and BMC (P = 0.019). Contrast coding using analyses of cova
riance with BMD or BMC as the outcome showed that isoflavones, not soy prot
ein, exerted the effect.
Conclusion: Soy isoflavones attenuated bone loss from the lumbar spine in p
erimenopausal women.