International Journal of Research in Pharmacy and Biosciences Volume 2, Issue 1, January 2015, PP 22-27 ISSN 2394-5885 (Print) & ISSN 2394-5893 (Online)

Therapeutic Effects of Glycine Max (): A Summary

1Dr Amit Sharma, 2Dr Zenis Baluja 1Assistant Professor, 2Demonstrator Department of Forensic Medicine, Hamdard Institute of Medical Sciences & Research, Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi-62

Abstract: The present generation is going through a major change in their approach to the idea of disease prevention where traditional medicine and medicinal foods are fastly replacing the conventional allopathic medicines. Soy rich food is one such example which is catching the attention of a common man as well as researchers due to its numerous health benefits. is a rich source of isoflavones. Soy rich food and isoflavones are of great interest when it comes to medicinal foods .The various health benefits which are claimed by soybean consumption in any form includes as a Cholesterol lowering agent, as an Anticancer agent, for Prevention of bone loss in menopausal women, as an Antioxidant and chelating agent and prevention of Type 2 DM. Among all these beneficial effect, the most extensively researched upon properties are its cholesterol lowering effect ,its role in prevention of osteoporosis and its role as an anticancer agent .Other than this its role in cognition is also appreciated. This article provides a summary of various health benefits of soy consumption in diet while stressing upon the crucial ones in detail. Keywords: Soy diet; isoflavones; flavanoids; medicinal food; phytosterols

1. INTRODUCTION Glycine Max first originated in Southeast Asia around 1100BC in China. In 1904, George Washington Carver from America discovered that soybeans are a rich source of Protein and oil. In 1921, William Morse found out more than 10,000 different varieties of soybean. Earlier it was used for crop rotation and production of hay. During World War 2, soybeans were consumed as a high protein food and as edible oil. Soy is consumed in forms like soy flour, soy grits, soy proteins isolated, textured etc. Its flavoured and more popular forms includes soy based milk, curds, cheese, cereals, , , etc. are whole food forms of soy while the earlier are processed forms. Table1. Nutrional values of soybeans(per 100g): Water 8.5 g Energy 416 kcal Energy 1741 kJ Protein 36.5 g Fat (total lipid) 19.9 g Fatty acids, saturated 2.9 g Fatty acids, mono-unsaturated 4.4 g Fatty acids, poly-unsaturated 11.3 g Carbohydrates 30.2 g Fiber 9.3 g Ash 4.9 g Isoflavones 200 mg Calcium, Ca 277 mg Iron, Fe 15.7 mg Magnesium, Mg 280 mg Phosphorus, Mg 704 mg Potassium, K 1797 mg Sodium, Na 2.0 mg Zinc, Zn 4.9 mg Copper, Cu 1.7 mg

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Manganese, Mn 2.52 mg Selenium, Se 17.8 µg Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) 6.0 mg Thiamin (vitamin B1) 0.874 mg Riboflavin (vitamin B2) 0.87 mg Niacin (vitamin B3) 1.62 mg Panthotenic acid (vitamin B5) 0.79 mg Vitamin B6 0.38 mg Folic acid 375 µg Vitamin B12 0.0 µg Vitamin A 2.0 µg Vitamin E 1.95 mg [Source: USDA Nutrient Database for Standard Reference] Recently the soy rich diet is being observed for its medicinal value and its incorporation as a integral part of diet on daily basis, for long term health benefits. Among all these health benefits reported and studied upon, its cholesterol lowering action is most vital in terming soy as a cardio -friendly food item.

2. CHOLESTEROL LOWERING EFFECT Several studies corroborate that the regular intake of legumes significantly decreases CVD.1 Specific studies on soybean remark that the substitution in the diet of animal protein for soybean protein, reduces the concentration of total and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol in plasma and decreases triglycerides; high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol concentrations are not affected significantly.2 Soybean protein, as well as reducing cholesterol and triglycerides levels, may produce an increase of Lipoprotein A, which is potentially detrimental in antiatherogenic therapy. 3 Nevertheless, consumption of soybean protein helps to reduce cardiovascular disease risk,4,5 but the mechanisms responsible for the hypo cholesterolemic effect have not been identified. The lack of understanding of this mechanism remains an obstacle for a better acceptance of soybean protein by clinical community. There are different hypothesis to explain these mechanisms. One of these hypothesis is that amino acid composition or distribution in soybean change the cholesterol metabolism, possibly, due to changes in endocrine status, because there are alterations in insulin:glucagon ratio and thyroid hormone concentrations,6 as well as an increase in plasma thyroxin concentrations which is related with a reduction in plasma cholesterol.7 Another hypothesis proposes that non-protein components such as saponins, fibre, phytic acid, minerals and isoflavones associated with soybean protein affect cholesterol metabolism. The metabolic changes observed when soybean is introduced in the diet consist in an increased cholesterol synthesis, an increased bile acid synthesis or a faecal bile acid excretion, increased apolipoprotein B or E receptor activity and a decreased hepatic lipoprotein secretion and cholesterol from the blood.6 Early epidemiologic researches on dietary fibre from cereals and legumes indicated an inverse relationship between dietary fibre intake and coronary disease risk. Legumes constitute a source of dietary fibre, relatively rich in soluble fibre, which may play an important role in the prevention of heart disease.5 The major effects of soybean soluble fibres on serum lipoproteins appear to be related with bile acid binding and with a decrease in the reabsorption of bile acid.1 Therefore, there is an increase in the cholesterol used to synthesize bile acids. But also, the fermentation of soluble fibres in the colon produces short-chain fatty acids that contribute to reduce hepatic cholesterol synthesis.8 It has been shown that propionic acid, one of the short-chain fatty acids, decreases the hepatic cholesterol.9 Moreover, the diminution in the synthesis of cholesterol in the liver is due to a reduction in serum insulin concentrations because insulin is responsible of activating an enzyme that participates in cholesterol synthesis and, on the other hand, it might be due to an alteration of the bile acid profile in the liver.10 There is also a hypothesis that isoflavones ingested within a soybean containing diet may inhibit atherosclerotic development, because they have antioxidant properties against LDL oxidation, which generates a cascade of events producing atherosclerotic plaques. In addition, isoflavones possess a hypocholesterolemic effect, although this effect is still under investigation. It might be due to the interaction of isoflavones with estrogenic receptors, because of the structural similitude between these International Journal of Research in Pharmacy and Biosciences 23 Therapeutic Effects of Glycine Max (Soybean): A Summary compounds and their metabolites and estrogens. Serum cholesterol concentrations may decrease by similar mechanism.4 Different clinical researches indicate that to achieve a cholesterol-lowering effect,11 it is important to consume soybean protein with its natural isoflavones fraction.12 The hydrolysis of fibres to be used as supplements may also alter their physiological effects. Furthermore, although fibre-rich food is related with protection from CVD and has hypocholesterolemic effects, the separation of its natural compounds such as protein or isoflavones may reduce the cardiovascular and cholesterol effects.13

3. ANTICANCER EFFECT Another property of soybean which is of great clinical interest is its anti-cancer properties. It is very fascinating to learn how a mere legume can be useful in a condition as grave as cancer. It was for the first time reported that soybean agglutinin was capable of inhibiting the growth of tumor in rats.14 Pattern of binding on the ell surface suggests about the type of malignancy of the tumor.15 These are also versatile markers, help in studies of various histochemical, biochemical, and functional methods for cancer cell classification.16 The exact mechanism is still not clear but lots of pathways are proposed for this. This has been found that targeting the surface present on the tumor cells can be helpful for the treatment of cancer. Treatment with anti-lectin antibodies can help in suppressing the tumor growth and colonization.17 These can be used for studying the metastatic spreading pattern and the prediction of lymphatic attack.18 These can also be used as the carrier for targeted drug delivery. Soybean lectin is useful for analytical indicator of stomach cancer.19 Soybean agglutinin related with the recognition of the human lymphoma cells where sialylation of particular carbohydrate residues is associated with the spontaneously metastatic capacity of human lymphoma cell lines.20 The number of macrophages increase with the SBL treated cells over the control. 21 Another study focuses on the human bone marrow cells which were mixed with the neuroblastoma cells from different cell line and then mixtures are separated by the SBL where all the neuroblastoma cells expressed the presence of receptor for SBL. By targeting SBA bound toxins, improved purging of neuroblastoma cells was achieved in another test Burkitt’s lymphoma cells were purged where it showed the similar results.22 It shows its effect upon the transplants of leukemia patients 23 another mechanism called the Cytoagglutination or aggregation by which the interaction of cancer cells can be detected.24 There are many bioactive peptides which can be derived from soybean protein which are having many effects on health and can be used for age-related chronic disorders, such as cardiovascular disease, obesity, decrease immune function and cancer. In contrast to most small-molecule drugs, peptides have high affinity, strong specificity for targets, low toxicity and good penetration of tissues. 25 Mechanism of action of lectin involves effect on tumoral cell membranes, the reduction in cell proliferation, the induction of tumor-specific cytotoxicity of macrophages and the induction of apoptosis. Lectins have also a strong interference on the immune system by producing the interleukins.26

4. PREVENTION OF OSTEOPOROSIS People of western countries compared with many Asian people present an increased risk of osteoporosis and have a higher occurrence of many menopausal symptoms. One of the differences between western and Asian people is that Asian diet is rich in soybean foods compared to western diet.27 Researchers found that the daily addition of isolated soybean protein with naturally occurring isoflavones to the diet of postmenopausal women reduced the frequency of hot flashes.28 It would be reasonable to think that in postmenopausal women, isoflavones bind to free estrogenic receptor providing a weak estrogenic effect. This could be useful as a dietary alternative or supplement to postmenopausal hormone replacement therapy.29 The improvement in cognitive function was observed in postmenopausal women after consumption of soybean extract with isoflavones, but there was no effect on menopausal symptoms. There are two types of estrogenic receptors (ER- and ER-) and both are in brain. Isoflavones show preference in binding to ER- receptor, which is prevalent in brain regions dedicated to cognition. So, it is likely ER- receptors play a role in cognitive function.29 International Journal of Research in Pharmacy and Biosciences 24 Dr Amit Sharma & Dr Zenis Baluja

There is a significant positive correlation between calcium excretion and animal protein intake, but this correlation is not present with vegetable protein intake. 30 Studies have been conducted to investigate the potential effects of soybean products on bone density and osteoporosis risk. Asian people consuming a diet low in animal protein and with a low calcium intake have much lower fracture rates than people in western countries. Consumption of soybean or its isoflavones may be needed to produce moderated increments in bone mass. These findings suggest that isoflavones and soybean protein are responsible for these effects.31 It has been found that has a direct inhibitory effect on bone resorption31 and shows an increase of bone mass in postmenopausal women. The mechanisms of isoflavones on bone require to be investigated. 5. ANTI DIABETIC EFFECT Soybean therapy in diabetic individuals depends on the type of diabetes and other factors such as lifestyle and metabolic needs of the patients. Soybean protein has a role in diabetes because of its content in glycine and arginine, which tend to reduce blood insulin levels. Soybean fibre may be useful because of its insulin-moderated effect. Soybean diet may be a good option in type 2 diabetes individuals due to its effect on hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, atherosclerosis and obesity, which are very common diseases in diabetic patients.32 In addition, substituting animal protein for soybean or other vegetable protein may also decrease renal hyperfiltration, proteinuria, and renal acid load and therefore reduces the risk of renal disease in type 2 diabetes.33 It is generally accepted that a high fibre diet, particularly soluble fibre, is useful to control plasma glucose concentration in diabetics. In short- and long-term experiments it has been reported an improvement in blood glucose attributed to fibre intake from soybeans. The mechanisms to improve glycemic control during dietary fibre intake seem to be due to the effects of slowing carbohydrate absorption, so that dietary fibre reduces or delays the absorption of carbohydrates. It also increases faecal excretion of bile acid and therefore may cause a low absorption of fat.34, 35 One of the most common complications of diabetes mellitus is the development of diabetic retinopathy. The antiangiogenic effects of isoflavones could be of value in this disorder, although the role of soybean protein isolates containing isoflavones has not been studied in detail.3231 In addition, soybean is associated with health benefits for patients with gallstones. The mechanism of beneficial effect of soybean on gallstones is not well known but it may be related to the blood cholesterol lowering effects of soybean protein containing isoflavones.33 Researches performed in diabetic patients with soybean diets show several potential advantages,11 but at the moment very much work is required to define the exact role of soybean in the control of diabetes mellitus. 6. CONCLUSION The sedentary lifestyle and increase in incidence of lifestyle disorders such as hypertension, diabetes etc. calls for a change in our dietary habits. The side effects of allopathic medicine are not hidden, so the best way for prevention of these disorders would be shifting to a healthy diet regimen. Soy food are one of the most beneficial medicinal food with numerous health benefit reported. REFERENCES [1] Anderson JW, Major AW. Pulses and lipaemia, short- and long-term effect: potential in the prevention of cardiovascular disease. Br J Nutr 2002; 88:263-271. [2] Anderson JW, Johnstone BM, Cook-Newell ME. Metaanalysis of the effects of soybean protein intake on serum lipids. N Engl J Med 1995; 333:276-282. [3] Nilausen K, Meinertz H. Lipoprotein (a) and dietary proteins: casein lowers lipoprotein (a) concentrations as compared with soy protein. Am J Clin Nutr 1999; 69:419-425. [4] Anderson JW, Smith BM, Washnock CS. Cardiovascular and renal benefits of dry and soybean intake. Am J Clin Nutr 1999; 70:464-474. [5] Kushi LH, Meyer KM, Jacobs DR. Cereals, legumes, and chronic disease risk reduction: evidence from epidemiologic studies. Am J Clin Nutr 1999; 70:451-458 [6] Potter SM: Overview of proposed mechanism for the hypocholesterolemic effect of soybean. J Nutr 1995; 125:606-611.

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