Evidence map›Paper›PMID 22433977›Full record

SynthesisMenopause (New York, N.Y.)2012

Extracted or synthesized soybean isoflavones reduce menopausal hot flash frequency and severity: systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Kyoko Taku, Melissa K Melby, Fredi Kronenberg, Mindy S Kurzer, Mark Messina

Registry-linked trialAbstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Menopause (New York, N.Y.), 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT06398236 (Multicentre, Exploratory, Prospective, Open-labelled, Non-controlled Study to Evaluate the Effect of SE5-OH Tablets on Healthy Women With Menopausal Symptoms), which is not on this map. Cited by 61 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
61citing papers in PubMed, 6 pooled it
11.7field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

NCT06398236 nacompletednot on this mapstarted 2023, after this paper: background citation

Multicentre, Exploratory, Prospective, Open-labelled, Non-controlled Study to Evaluate the Effect of SE5-OH Tablets on Healthy Women With Menopausal Symptoms

TypeinterventionalSponsorNutrition & Sante IberiaRan2023 to 2024Enrolled170ConditionsMenopauseArmsSE5-OH tablets
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

61 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 184 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Atencion primaria · 2018
    Guideline
  4. Survivorship, Version 2.2017, NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology.Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network : JNCCN · 2017
    Guideline
  5. Pooled it
  6. Phytoestrogens for menopausal vasomotor symptoms.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2013
    Pooled it
  7. Trial
  8. Trial
  9. Trial
  10. Trial
  11. Trial
  12. Trial
  13. Trial
  14. Article
  15. Review
  16. Article
  17. Review
  18. Review
  19. Management of menopausal hot flushes. Recommendations from the Spanish Menopause Society.European journal of obstetrics & gynecology and reproductive biology: X · 2025
    Review
  20. Article

1 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.

Kyoko TakuNational Institute of Health and Nutrition, Tokyo, Japan.
Melissa K Melby
Fredi Kronenberg
Mindy S Kurzer
Mark Messina
Food and Nutrition Service · USLoma Linda University Health Care · USNational Institute of Health Sciences · JPStanford University · USUniversity of Delaware · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveThis analysis was conducted to determine the efficacy of extracted or synthesized soybean isoflavones in the alleviation of hot flashes in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women.

methodsPubMed and The Cochrane Controlled Clinical Trials Register Database were searched for relevant articles reporting double-blinded randomized controlled trials through December 14, 2010. References within identified articles, as well as peer-reviewed articles that had come to the attention of the authors through other means, were also examined for suitability. This systematic review and meta-analysis, which evaluated the effects of isoflavones on the frequency, severity, or composite score (frequency × severity) of hot flashes compared with placebo was conducted according to Cochrane Handbook guidelines.

resultsFrom 277 potentially relevant publications, 19 trials (reported in 20 articles) were included in the systematic review (13 included hot flash frequency; 10, severity; and 3, composite scores), and 17 trials were selected for meta-analyses to clarify the effect of soybean isoflavones on hot flash frequency (13 trials) and severity (9 trials). Meta-analysis revealed that ingestion of soy isoflavones (median, 54 mg; aglycone equivalents) for 6 weeks to 12 months significantly reduced the frequency (combined fixed-effect and random effects model) of hot flashes by 20.6% (95% CI, -28.38 to -12.86; P < 0.00001) compared with placebo (heterogeneity P = 0.0003, I = 67%; random effects model). Meta-analysis also revealed that isoflavones significantly reduced hot flash severity by 26.2% (95% CI: -42.23 to -10.15, P = 0.001) compared with placebo (heterogeneity, P < 0.00001, I = 86%; random effects model). Isoflavone supplements providing more than 18.8 mg of genistein (the median for all studies) were more than twice as potent at reducing hot flash frequency than lower genistein supplements.

conclusionsSoy isoflavone supplements, derived by extraction or chemical synthesis, are significantly more effective than placebo in reducing the frequency and severity of hot flashes. Additional studies are needed to further address the complex array of factors that may affect efficacy, such as dose, isoflavone form, baseline hot flash frequency, and treatment duration.

Indexed as

MenopauseDietary SupplementsFemaleGlycine maxHot FlashesHumansIsoflavonesRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicTreatment OutcomeIsoflavones

Identifiers

PMID22433977
OpenAlexW2016545447

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

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.