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A Soybean Compound Enters the Picture
Having mapped out the mechanism of injury, Wu and his team turned to a question with practical implications: could anything be done to prevent it?

Wu had a hypothesis rooted in an earlier line of research. He had previously studied a compound called genistein — a naturally occurring, mildly estrogen-like substance found in soybeans — and found it to have notable anti-inflammatory properties. That work, published in the journal Cell in 2022, had shown genistein’s ability to protect blood vessels and heart tissue from a different kind of inflammatory insult.

The connection to myocarditis seemed plausible for several reasons. The condition disproportionately affects males, and estrogen is known to have anti-inflammatory effects. Genistein, which mimics estrogen only weakly, might offer some of those protective benefits without the hormonal side effects of stronger compounds.