Effects of Fructose-Isoflavone Diet on Plasma Isoflavonoids and Cecal Enzyme Activity in Mice

Abstract

This paper studies the effects of fructose diet on plasma isoflavonoids and floral enzyme activities in adult mice. Male 6-week-old mice were fed a fructose-isoflavone (FI) diet or a starch-isoflavone (SI) diet for four weeks. Plasma daidzein and equol were analyzed by HPLC, and cecal bacterial β-glucosidase and β-glucuronidase activities were also measured. The plasma equol concentration was significantly higher in the FI diet group as compared to the SI diet group. No significant difference was observed in the plasma daidzein concentration between the two dietary groups. There were no significant differences in cecal β-glucosidase activities between the FI diet group and the SI diet group. However, the ratio of cecal β-glucuronidase activity to β-glucosidase activity was significantly higher in the FI diet group. The present study suggests that a high content of fructose in the diet may affect the biological activity of dietary isoflavones on the host.