Exposure to phytoestrogens in the perinatal period affects androgen secretion by testicular leydig cells in the adult rat

Abstract

The use of soy-based products in the diet of infants has raised concerns regarding the reproductive toxicity of genistein and daidzein, the predominant isoflavones in soybeans with estrogenic activity. Time-bred Long-Evans dams were fed diets containing 0, 5, 50, 500, or 1000 ppm of soy isoflavones from gestational d 12 until weaning at d 21 postpartum. Male rats in all groups were fed soy-free diets from postnatal d 21 until 90 d of age. The mean ± SD concentration of unconjugated (i.e. biologically active) genistein and daidzein in serum from the group of dams maintained on the diet containing the highest amount of isoflavones (1000 ppm) were 17 ± 27 and 56 ± 30 nM, respectively, at d 21 postpartum. The concentrations were considerably greater in male offspring (genistein: 73 ± 46 nM; daidzein: 106 ± 53 nM). Although steroidogenesis was decreased in individual Leydig cells, male rats from the highest exposure group (1000 ppm diet) exhibited elevated serum levels of the sex steroid hormones androsterone at 21 d (control: 15 ± 1.5 vs.28 ± 3.5 ng/ml; P < 0.05) and testosterone at 90 d of age (control: 7.5 ± 1 vs.17 ± 2 ng/ml; P < 0.05). Testosterone secretion by immature Leydig cells, isolated from 35-d-old male rats, decreased on exposure to 0.1 nM genistein in vitro (control: 175 ± 5 vs. 117 ± 3 ng/106 cells per 24 h; P < 0.05), indicative of direct phytoestrogen action. Thus, phytoestrogens have the ability to regulate Leydig cells, and additional studies to assess potential adverse effects of dietary soy-based products on reproductive tract development in neonates are warranted. Copyright © 2007 by The Endocrine Society.