ReviewEnvironmental health perspectives2002
Goitrogenic and estrogenic activity of soy isoflavones.
Review in Environmental health perspectives, 2002. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 76 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
76 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 286 citations in OpenAlex.
- Disruption of the thyroid hormone system and patterns of altered thyroid hormone serum concentrations after chemical exposures in adult rodents - a systematic review.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2026Pooled it
- Mechanism of action of genistein on breast cancer and differential effects of different age stages.Pharmaceutical biology · 2025Pooled it
- Disruption of the thyroid hormone system and patterns of altered thyroid hormones after gestational chemical exposures in rodents - a systematic review.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2023Pooled it
- Systematic Review and Meta-analysis on the Effect of Soy on Thyroid Function.Scientific reports · 2019Pooled it
- Soy protein supplementation in men following radical prostatectomy: a 2-year randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2021Trial
- Impact of food supplements on early child development in children with moderate acute malnutrition: A randomised 2 x 2 x 3 factorial trial in Burkina Faso.PLoS medicine · 2020Trial
- Evaluation of effect of isoflavone on thyroid economy & autoimmunity in oophorectomised women: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.The Indian journal of medical research · 2011Trial
- Clinical outcomes of a 2-y soy isoflavone supplementation in menopausal women.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2011Trial
- Daidzein-rich isoflavone aglycones are potentially effective in reducing hot flashes in menopausal women.Menopause (New York, N.Y.)Trial
- Bridging Biosynthesis and Bioavailability: Integrated Strategies for Tailoring Soybean Isoflavone Profiles.Comprehensive reviews in food science and food safety · 2026Review
- Longitudinal Evaluation from Birth to Adolescence of Soy Protein-Based Infant Formula Compared with Cow Milk-Based Formula and Breastfeeding: A Comprehensive Summary of Findings.Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.) · 2026Review
- Development of a blueprint for plant-derived hospital meals: a multidisciplinary co-creative study.European journal of nutrition · 2026Article
- Soy Intake During Childhood and/or Adolescence and Adult Breast Cancer: An Examination of the Early Soy Intake Hypothesis.Nutrients · 2026Review
- Dietary protein sources in concentrate supplementation influence growth performance by manipulating gut microbiota and serum metabolites in suckling Donkey foals.Animal microbiome · 2025Article
- Urinary phytoestrogen levels and reduced thyroid hormone sensitivity: a cross-sectional analysis of NHANES 2007-2010.European journal of medical research · 2025Article
- Perspective: Isoflavones-Intriguing Molecules but Much Remains to Be Learned about These Soybean Constituents.Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.) · 2025Review
- Protective role of ethanol extract of purslane leaves (Open veterinary journal · 2025Article
- Article
- Dairy food consumption is beneficially linked with iodine status in US children and adults: National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys 2001-2018.Public health nutrition · 2023Article
- A Brief Look at Hashimoto's Disease, Adrenal Incidentalomas, Obesity and Insulin Resistance-Could Endocrine Disruptors Be the Other Side of the Same Coin?Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2023Review
16 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Soy is known to produce estrogenic isoflavones. Here, we briefly review the evidence for binding of isoflavones to the estrogen receptor, in vivo estrogenicity and developmental toxicity, and estrogen developmental carcinogenesis in rats. Genistein, the major soy isoflavone, also has a frank estrogenic effect in women. We then focus on evidence from animal and human studies suggesting a link between soy consumption and goiter, an activity independent of estrogenicity. Iodine deficiency greatly increases soy antithyroid effects, whereas iodine supplementation is protective. Thus, soy effects on the thyroid involve the critical relationship between iodine status and thyroid function. In rats consuming genistein-fortified diets, genistein was measured in the thyroid at levels that produced dose-dependent and significant inactivation of rat and human thyroid peroxidase (TPO) in vitro. Furthermore, rat TPO activity was dose-dependently reduced by up to 80%. Although these effects are clear and reproducible, other measures of thyroid function in vivo (serum levels of triiodothyronine, thyroxine, and thyroid-stimulating hormone; thyroid weight; and thyroid histopathology) were all normal. Additional factors appear necessary for soy to cause overt thyroid toxicity. These clearly include iodine deficiency but may also include additional soy components, other defects of hormone synthesis, or additional goitrogenic dietary factors. Although safety testing of natural products, including soy products, is not required, the possibility that widely consumed soy products may cause harm in the human population via either or both estrogenic and goitrogenic activities is of concern. Rigorous, high-quality experimental and human research into soy toxicity is the best way to address these concerns. Similar studies in wildlife populations are also appropriate.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.