Protective Effect of Soy Isoflavone Genistein on Ischemia-Reperfusion in the Rat Small Intestine

Ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury of the intestine is an important factor associated with high rates of morbidity and mortality. Intestinal I/R is a common clinical problem in the settings of severe burns, circulatory shock and strangulation ileus. Intestinal I/R damages remote organs and promotes multi-organ failure. It has been shown that enteral feeding before ischemic insults is beneficial for reducing organ injury and improving survival after intestinal I/R. In that study, the authors used a standard complex enteral diet and they suggested that it is important to find new nutrient formulas. Since reactive oxygen species are responsible for intestinal I/R injury, we focused on a dietary polyphenol, the soy isoflavone genistein. Genistein has a wide spectrum of biochemical and pharmacological activities. However, the possibility of a protective effect of genistein as enteral nutrition on I/R injury has not been investigated. We therefore investigated the protective effect of genistein on oxidative injury using intestinal I/R model rats. We found that genistein, which has combined antioxidant activity from radical scavenging, xanthine oxidase inhibition and chain-breaking effects, exhibits a protective effect on intestinal I/R injury. The results suggest that genistein, a soy isoflavone, has the possibility as a new nutrient formula of enteral feeding.