The DOI matches its Crossref record; 191 of the 192 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Equol: A Bacterial Metabolite from The Daidzein Isoflavone and Its Presumed Beneficial Health Effects
Open accessAbstract
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.
Overview
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In the citing paper
“A further example is the isoflavone metabolite equol, which has considerable estrogenic properties, but upwards of half of the population lack the microbiota composition to produce it (509).”
From Diet and the Microbiota–Gut–Brain Axis: Sowing the Seeds of Good Mental Health (2021) · cites this paper as [509]
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Citations
Cites
Bile salt biotransformations by human intestinal bacteria
Ridlon, J. M., Kang, D.-J., & Hylemon, P. B. (2006) · Journal of Lipid Research · doi:10.1194/jlr.r500013-jlr200 · Cited by 2,829
Del Rio, D., Rodriguez-Mateos, A., Spencer, J. P. E., Tognolini, M., Borges, G., & Crozier, A. (2013) · Antioxidants & Redox Signaling · doi:10.1089/ars.2012.4581 · Cited by 2,601
Setchell, K. D. R., Brown, N. M., Desai, P. B., Zimmer-Nechemias, L., Wolfe, B., Brashear, W. T., Kirschner, A. S., Cassidy, A., & Heubi, J. E. (2001) · Journal of Nutrition · doi:10.1093/jn/131.4.1362s · Cited by 974
Estrogen receptors alpha (ERα) and beta (ERβ): Subtype-selective ligands and clinical potential
Paterni, I., Granchi, C., Katzenellenbogen, J. A., & Minutolo, F. (2014) · Steroids · doi:10.1016/j.steroids.2014.06.012 · Cited by 736
Ramawat, K. G., & Mérillon, J. (2013) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-642-22144-6 · Cited by 652
Thomas, P., & Dong, J. (2006) · The Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology · doi:10.1016/j.jsbmb.2006.09.017 · Cited by 604
Glucagon-like peptide 1 in health and disease
Andersen, A., Lund, A., Knop, F. K., & Vilsbøll, T. (2018) · Nature Reviews Endocrinology · doi:10.1038/s41574-018-0016-2 · Cited by 543
Soy and Health Update: Evaluation of the Clinical and Epidemiologic Literature
Messina, M. (2016) · Nutrients · doi:10.3390/nu8120754 · Cited by 537
Equol: History, Chemistry, and Formation
Setchell, K. D. R., & Clerici, C. (2010) · The Journal of Nutrition · doi:10.3945/jn.109.119776 · Cited by 519
Isoflavones: estrogenic activity, biological effect and bioavailability
Vitale, D. C., Piazza, C., Melilli, B., Drago, F., & Salomone, S. (2012) · European Journal of Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics · doi:10.1007/s13318-012-0112-y · Cited by 500
Flagged first, then by citations
1 of the 192 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.
Research works printed but not linked: 2
- Kudou, 1991, Malonylisoflavone glycosides in soybean seeds (Glycine max Merrill), Agric. Biol. Chem., 51, 5579
- Uchiyama, 2007, Identification of a newly isolated equol-producing lactic acid bacterium from the human feces, J. Intest. Microbiol., 21, 217
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Items 401–416 of 416
Flavonoids and neurodegeneration: Structure-activity relationship and therapeutic insights
Paragas, D. S., Ortinero, C., Feliciano, M. A. M., Lazaro, S. E., Quitos, L. S., Gonzales, R. L., Hsieh, C.-Y., Chen, B.-Y., Hsueh, C., & Tsai, P. (2026) · Studies in natural products chemistry · doi:10.1016/b978-0-443-49142-9.00010-x
Feng, H., Geng, M., Sun, S., Wen, Z., 朱百家, Xu, K., & Wang, J. (2026) · Postharvest Biology and Technology · doi:10.1016/j.postharvbio.2026.114638
Estrobolome in the Gut–Vagina Axis: A Microbial Endocrinology Perspective
Agoni, L., Martinelli, C. V., Candiani, M., & Seta, F. D. (2026) · Reproductive Medicine · doi:10.3390/reprodmed7030040
Structural Basis and Conformational Switching of Capture-SELEX Aptamers for Designing Equol Sensors
Endoh, T., Yaku, H., Podbevšek, P., Plavec, J., & Sugimoto, N. (2026) · ACS Omega · doi:10.1021/acsomega.6c06351
Manjunatha, H. J., Mahalingappa, G., Varadaraju, S. R., Manjunath, S. H., Prashantha, K., Damle, A., Lee, C., & Kumar, A. (2026) · Ageing Research Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.arr.2026.103288
Bilal, M., Rao, A. R., Yar, M., Elnagar, A., & Ramadan, M. F. (2026) · Plant Foods for Human Nutrition · doi:10.1007/s11130-026-01563-4
Synthesis, Curing Behavior, and Performance of a Novel Equol‐Based Benzoxazine Resin
Liu, J., Zu, L., Dong, S., Lan, T., Zhang, W., Luo, Y., & Xu, L. (2026) · Journal of Polymer Science · doi:10.1002/pola.70326
Liu, B., Huang, X., Tulake, A., Tian, M., Zhou, L., Chu, Y., Zhou, H., Tai, S., & Feng, J. (2026) · Frontiers in Microbiology · doi:10.3389/fmicb.2026.1938216
Converting Equol Nonproducers to Producers: A Systematic Review of Randomized Clinical Trials
Li, J., Li, M., Aboushanab, S. A., Ebeid, M. M., Hatanaka, R., Iida, M., Takase, M., Jacobs, I., Gusmanov, A., Hirata, A., et al. (2026) · Food Science & Nutrition · doi:10.1002/fsn3.72394
Zhao, Y., Peng, C., Xia, Y., Dong, T., Xu, J., Shan, X., Zhong, X., Xue, J., Bing, Z., Li, P., et al. (2026) · Cell Metabolism · doi:10.1016/j.cmet.2026.09.003 · Cited by 1
Bioactive compounds and socio-demographics factors in functional foods and nutraceuticals
Gaidher, M., Chauhan, P., Thakur, P., & Sharma, S. (2026) · PharmaNutrition · doi:10.1016/j.phanu.2026.100537
Food for thought: Functional foods and microbial metabolites in diet-microbiome-brain communication
Tutu, C. O., Asiedu, B. K., Akonor, P. T., Acheampong, R., Obeng, R., Owusu-Bempah, J., Mahama, S., Wiafe‐Kwagyan, M., Nartey, J., Antwi, B., et al. (2026) · Journal of Functional Foods · doi:10.1016/j.jff.2026.107529
Sun, Z., Liu, X., Dong, S., Liu, Q., Wu, K., Zhang, X., Ye, Z., 文薏, Li, M., & Wei, S. (2026) · Frontiers in Nutrition · doi:10.3389/fnut.2026.1961915
Kurşun, Ö. E. D., Kalemoglu, E., Şahin, K., & Kucuk, O. (2026) · Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition · doi:10.1080/10408398.2026.2751399
Equol–Thiophene‐Based Benzoxazine: Synthesis, Curing Kinetics, and Blend Properties
Liu, J., Zu, L., Dong, S., Lan, T., Zhang, W., Luo, Y., & Xu, L. (2026) · Polymer Engineering and Science · doi:10.1002/pen.70983
Metadata
- Authors
- Mayo, B., Vázquez, L., & Flórez, A. B.
- Affiliations
- Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (ES)
- Corresponding author
- Mayo, Baltasar
- Venue
- Nutrients
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Published
- 2019-09-16
- Volume
- 11
- Issue
- 9
- Pages
- 2231
- ISSN
- 2072-6643 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC6770660
- OpenAlex
- W2972497746
- Cited by
- 416
- References
- 192
- Citations by year
- 2026: 56 · 2025: 55 · 2024: 71 · 2023: 75 · 2022: 74 · 2021: 50 · 2020: 33 · 2019: 1
- FWCI
- 5.88
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- dx.doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Nutrients (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DIGITAL.CSIC (Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad, Gobierno de España (AGL2011-24300-ALI and AGL-2014-57820-R)
- Gobierno del Principado de Asturias (GRUPIN14-137 and IDI/2018/000114)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Phytoestrogen effects and research
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Gut microbiota and health
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Biochemistry (medical) › Phytochemicals and Antioxidant Activities
- Keywords
- equol, daidzein, isoflavones, soybean, gut microbiota, estrogenic activity, antioxidant activity, menopausal symptoms, osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease, cancer prevention
- MeSH terms
- Gastrointestinal Microbiome, Animals, Bacteria, Diet, Health Status, Humans, Isoflavones, Equol
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
