Effect of dietary soy protein and genistein on disease progression in mice with polycystic kidney disease

Abstract The effects of feeding a soy protein isolate or genistein, an isoflavonoid present in soy protein, on cyst development were examined in the DBA/2FG-pcy (pcy) mouse, an accepted animal model of polycystic kidney disease, before the appearance of clinical symptoms. In study 1, 60-day-old male pcy mice were evenly divided into two groups and fed semipurified diets, based on casein or a soy protein isolate (15 g protein/100 g diet) for 90 days. In study 2, the animals were fed a casein-based diet (25 g casein/100 g diet) with or without genistein (0.05 g/100 g diet) for 60 days. In study 1, total kidney weight and kidney weight relative to body weight were significantly reduced (by 24% to 25%) in the animals fed the soy protein-based diet, relative to the casein-fed group, as was kidney water content (by 38%). In addition, mean cyst volume, as measured by morphometry, were lower (by 25%) in kidneys from the soy protein-fed group. No differences were found between these two groups with respect to final body weight, plasma creatinine, and protein content; however, plasma urea values were significantly lower in the soy protein-fed animals. Genistein supplementation of a casein-based diet in study 2 did not reduce the renal enlargement and cyst development associated with progression of polycystic kidney disease. These results suggest that soy protein is effective in retarding cyst development in the pcy mouse and that this beneficial effect may be unrelated to its genistein content. (Am J Kidney Dis 1998 Jan;31(1):55-61)