Lifelong exposure to dietary isoflavones reduces risk of obesity in ovariectomized Wistar rats.

Scope: Traditional Asian diet rich in soy isoflavones (ISOs) is discussed to be linked to a lower obesity prevalence. In lifelong and short-term exposure scenarios we investigated effects of an ISO-rich diet on the body composition and development of obesity in female rats.

Methods And Results: Female Wistar rats grew up on ISO-free or ISO-rich control diet (CON ISO: 467 mg/kg diet).

Dose-dependent effects of isoflavone exposure during early lifetime on the rat mammary gland: Studies on estrogen sensitivity, isoflavone metabolism, and DNA methylation.

Scope: Isoflavone (ISO) exposure during adolescence modulates 17β-estradiol (E2) sensitivity of the adult mammary gland. The present study investigated the dose dependency of these effects focusing on proliferation, estrogen receptor dependent and independent gene expression, as well as DNA methylation and ISO metabolism.

Methods And Results: Female Wistar rats were lifelong exposed to an ISO-depleted diet or to diets enriched with a soy ISO extract (ISO-rich diet (IRD)) causing plasma concentrations as observed minimally (IRDlow) and maximally (IRDhigh) in Asian women.

Aging is associated with a shift of fatty metabolism toward lipogenesis.

The incidence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is steadily increasing among the elderly population. Lipid metabolism is transcriptionally controlled by the nuclear receptors retinoid acid receptor alpha, liver-X-receptor alpha, and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha and their target genes ABCA1, sterol regulatory element-binding protein-1c, and fatty acid synthase. Using senescence-accelerated prone mice (SAMP8), we addressed the question as to whether age-related increase of oxidative stress affects nuclear receptor gene expression.