Effect of Equol Supplementation on Arterial Stiffness and Cognition in Healthy Volunteers

Summary

The ACE Trial, funded by the National Institute on Ageing/National Institutes of Health (NIH), is a multicenter clinical trial. The ACE Trial will determine if taking the dietary supplement Equol could slow the progression of stiffening of the arteries, small blood vessel disease in the brain and memory decline. Equol is a soy-based supplement that has plant estrogen-like compounds in it. Equol is a metabolite of soy isoflavone. Our studies in Japan and other studies suggest that Equol may slow mechanisms related to memory decline. No previous studies in the United States have tested the effect of Equol on these mechanisms or memory decline. Supplementation of Equol in the ACE Trial is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, are recruiting participants. The ACE Trial will ask participants to complete 7 clinic visits over a two-year period. The participants are asked to take Equol tablets daily for 24 months. Clinic procedures include Pulse Wave Velocity (to measure arterial stiffness), Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) of the brain and tests of awareness and thinking.

Timeline

Start

2023-06-29

Primary completion

2026-10-31

Completion

2027-01-30

Publications

• Background Sekikawa A, Wharton W, Butts B, Veliky CV, Garfein J, Li J, Goon S, Fort A, Li M, Hughes TM. Potential Protective Mechanisms of S-equol, a Metabolite of Soy Isoflavone by the Gut Microbiome, on Cognitive Decline and Dementia. Int J Mol Sci. 2022 Oct 7;23(19):11921. doi: 10.3390/ijms231911921.
• Results Sekikawa A, Wharton W, Murray-Krezan C, Wu M, Chang Y, Snitz BE, Coccari M, Yang S, Love ML, Cusick D, Wang R, Li M, Park C, Li J, DeConne TM, Smith C, Verble DD, Lancet MQ, Foroud T, Kim T, Nadkarni NK, Mettenburg JM, Zamora E, Lopez OL, Hughes TM. ACE trial design: Equol targeting estrogen receptor-beta in vascular and cognitive aging. Alzheimers Dement (N Y). 2025 Aug 18;11(3):e70144. doi: 10.1002/trc2.70144. eCollection 2025 Jul-Sep.

Drugs

Indications