Short-term soy and probiotic supplementation does not markedly affect concentrations of reproductive hormones in postmenopausal women with and without histories of breast cancer

Background: Observational studies suggest that dietary isoflavones reduce breast cancer risk, and this may be caused in part by effects on endogenous hormone concentrations. Because intestinal bacteria metabolize isoflavones, it was hypothesized that consumption of probiotic bacteria would enhance the biologic effects of isoflavones, including effects on endogenous hormones. Design: Twenty (20) postmenopausal breast cancer survivors and 20 healthy postmenopausal women completed four 42-day diet periods in a randomized, crossover design. They received one of the following: isolated soy protein; isolated milk protein; soy + probiotic capsules; or milk + probiotic capsules. Each protein supplement provided 0.38 g protein/(kg body weight/day) (26.6 ± 4.5 g protein/day) and soy protein provided 0.64 mg isoflavones/(kg body weight/day) (44.4 ± 7.5 mg isoflavones/day). Probiotic capsules provided 10⁹ colony-forming units Lactobacillus acidophilus (strain DDS™-1), Bifidobacterium longum, and 15-20 mg fructooligosaccharide. Measures: Plasma samples were collected at baseline and after each diet for analysis of estrogens, follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), androgens, and sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG). Results: Hormone levels were not affected by soy, probiotic supplements, or equol producer status, and neither cancer status nor equol producer status altered the effects of soy or probiotics. Furthermore probiotics did not alter the effects of soy consumption. Soy protein tended to decrease SHBG compared to milk protein diets (p = 0.05), although both proteins significantly decreased SHBG relative to baseline (p = 0.0001 and p = 0.03). Conclusions: These data suggest that short-term, moderate consumption of isoflavone-containing soy protein and consumption of these particular probiotic capsules do not significantly alter reproductive hormone concentrations in breast cancer survivors or controls, regardless of equol producer status.