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Review
. 2010 Mar;2(3):241-79.
doi: 10.3390/nu2030241. Epub 2010 Feb 26.

Potential health-modulating effects of isoflavones and metabolites via activation of PPAR and AhR

Svjetlana Medjakovic  1 , Monika Mueller, Alois Jungbauer
Affiliations
Review

Potential health-modulating effects of isoflavones and metabolites via activation of PPAR and AhR

Svjetlana Medjakovic et al. Nutrients. 2010 Mar.

Abstract

Isoflavones have multiple actions on cell functions. The most prominent one is the activation of estrogen receptors. Other functions are often overlooked, but are equally important and explain the beneficial health effects of isoflavones. Isoflavones are potent dual PPARα/γ agonists and exert anti-inflammatory activity, which may contribute to the prevention of metabolic syndrome, atherosclerosis and various other inflammatory diseases. Some isoflavones are potent aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) agonists and induce cell cycle arrest, chemoprevention and modulate xenobiotic metabolism. This review discusses effects mediated by the activation of AhR and PPARs and casts a light on the concerted action of isoflavones.

Keywords: AhR; PPARα; PPARγ; atherosclerosis; cell cycle control; inflammation; isoflavones; metabolic syndrome; xenobiotic metabolism.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Structure of the flavonoids [with two aromatic benzol rings (A and B rings)] and a C3 portion cyclized with oxygen (C ring).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Structure of isoflavones: (A) genistein, (B) daidzein, (C) formononetin, (D) biochanin A, and (E) glycitein.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Possible metabolism products of daidzein.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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