Exposure to Genistein During Gestation and Lactation Demasculinizes the Reproductive System in Rats

Abstract

Perinatal genistein exposure results in transient and lasting alterations in masculinization of the reproductive system. These results extend our knowledge of the effects of early genistein exposure on male development and may have implications for human health in terms of potential relationships of endocrine disrupters and urogenital abnormalities thought to be increasing in incidence in boys and men.

Endocrine-Mediated Effects of Genistein on Pups Born to Dams Fed a Phytoestrogen-Enriched Diet

“…Although the maximum dose in the present study was higher than that of these studies, no abnormal endocrine-mediated findings were detected in the present pups. In addition, prepubertal urogenital abnormalities, smaller male anogenital distances and testis size, and delayed preputial separation were detected in pups born to dams given genistein at doses of 5 and 300 mg/kg/day throughout gestation and lactation under a phytoestrogen-free diet [17]. The difference between our study and these previous studies lay in whether a diet containing phytoestrogens was given to dams from early stages of their life.…”

Xenopus laevis is a potential alternative model animal species to study reproductive toxicity of phytoestrogens

“…In past decades, most studies showed that phytoestrogens given in high dose or at critical stages of development in rodents can result in severe reproductive system disorders, such as inhibition of LH secretion, decrease of plasma testosterone concentrations and prostate weight (Wanichacheewa et al, 2001;Wisniewski et al, 2003;Opalka et al, 2004). Simultaneously, some authors reported that there are no significant effects of phytoestrogens in rodents (Roberts et al, 2000;Mitchell et al, 2001;Lamartiniere et al, 2002).…”

Soy, phytoestrogens and their impact on reproductive health

“…In rodents, exposure to isoflavone during gestation and lactation (dietary exposure) or perinatally (oral gavage) yielded, once again, inconsistent results. While some reports found no reproductive defects (Fielden et al, 2003;Kang et al, 2002;Nagao et al, 2001), others reported variable persistent phenotypic and behavioral reproductive abnormalities such as decreased testicular weight or size (Atanassova et al, 2000;West et al, 2005;Wisniewski et al, 2003), decreased spermatogenesis (Atanassova et al, 2000;West et al, 2005), lower FSH (Atanassova et al, 2000) and testosterone levels (Wisniewski et al, 2003), smaller ano-genital distance (Wisniewski et al, 2003(Wisniewski et al, , 2005 and alterations of reproductive and aggressive behavior (Wisniewski et al, 2003(Wisniewski et al, , 2005.…”