Decreased circulating levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-{alpha}) in postmenopausal women during consumption of soy containing isoflavones. Huang Y, Cao S, Nagamani M, Anderson KE, Grady JJ, Lu LJ. Departments of Preventive Medicine, and Community Health and of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX 77555-1109. CONTEXT: Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) is a key mediator of inflammatory responses and may play a pivotal role in the development of cancer and in bone resorption. OBJECTIVE: This study determined the effect of soy rich in isoflavones on levels of TNF-alpha. DESIGN: Twelve postmenopausal women ingested a 36-oz portion of soymilk containing isoflavones daily for 16 weeks and provided fasting blood samples multiple times before, during, and after soy consumption for the analyses of cytokines and monocyte content. RESULTS: Compared with pre-diet levels (36.3 +/- 14.0 pg/ml), serum levels of TNF-alpha decreased by 25.1% (27.2 +/- 10.3 pg/ml, P < 0.01) as early as 2 weeks after soy consumption, and by 66.7% (11.6 +/- 5.3 pg/ml, P < 0.01) 10 weeks after soy consumption, and recovered to the pre-diet levels 4 weeks after the termination of soy consumption (38.6 +/- 19.6 pg/ml, P = 0.66). A similar decrease of up to 56.6% and 14.4% was found for serum IL-1alpha and the mean percentage of blood monocytes during soy consumption, respectively, but not for IL-6. In cultures of monocytes or whole blood from postmenopausal women, soy isoflavones (genistein and daidzein, 10 - 1000 nM), tamoxifen (10 - 1000 nM) or 17beta-estradiol (0.1 - 10 nM) inhibited lipopolysaccharide (1 microg/ml)-induced TNF-alpha production by up to 55.8%. CONCLUSIONS: Isoflavones may be the active components in soy responsible for the decrease of TNF-alpha found in postmenopausal women during a soy diet. This anti-inflammatory effect of the isoflavones may be important in immune modulation and the prevention of bone loss and cancer. PMID: 15840745 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2005 Apr 19; [Epub ahead of print] Remember we are NOT Doctors and have NO medical training. This site is like an Encylopedia - there are many pages, many links on many topics. Support our work with any size DONATION - see left side of any page - for how to donate. You can help raise awareness of CAM.