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ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE

A BRIEF COMMUNICATION

Subcutaneously Administrated Genistein and Daidzein Decrease Serum Cholesterol and Increase Triglyceride Levels in Male Middle-Aged Rats

Branka oic-Jurjevi^*,1, Branko Filipovi^*, Vladimir Ajdanovi^*, Dejan Brki, Nataa Risti^*, Milica Manojlovi Stojanoski^*, Nataa Nestorovi^*, Svetlana Trifunovi^* and Milka Sekuli^*

^* Institute for Biological Research, Belgrade 11060, Serbia; and Johnson & Johnson S.E. Inc., Belgrade 11060, Serbia

To whom requests for reprints should be addressed at ¹ The Institute for Biological Research Despota Stefana Boulevard 142, 11060 Belgrade, Serbia. E-mail: brankica{at}ibiss.bg.ac.yu

Nutritional supplements containing soybean phytoestrogens, the isoflavones genistein (G) and daidzein (D), are increasingly used as alternative therapy for osteoporosis, cancer, and cardiovascular and other diseases with a frequency that increases with advancing age. In this study we examined the effects of subcutaneous administration of either G or D on serum lipid levels in orchidectomized (Orx) and intact (IA) middle-aged male rats, which are experimental models of andropause. Sixteen-month-old Wistar rats were treated with 10 mg/kg and 30mg/kg of either G or D. The control groups received testosterone, estradiol, or vehicle for 3 weeks, after which the total serum cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein (HDL-C), and total triglycerides (TT) were measured. Compared with the matching vehicle-treated controls, the higher doses of G and D and testosterone treatment significantly (P < 0.05) lowered the TC and lipoprotein cholesterol levels. The greatest effect was observed regarding LDL-C in both Orx and IA males after G and D treatments, in which LDL-C decreased by more than 30%. The lower isoflavone doses induced a significant cholesterol-lowering effect (P < 0.05) only in the Orx group. Like the estradiol treatment, the higher doses of G and D increased the TT levels in both rat models by more than 50% (P < 0.05). The lower doses of isoflavones increased TT only in the Orx group. In male middle-aged rats, injections of higher doses of G and D decreased the serum cholesterol levels, as did testosterone injection, and brought about an increase in serum triglycerides similar to that observed after estradiol treatment.

Key Words: isoflavones • sex steroids • cholesterol • triglycerides • rats • middle age