LAUSR

Soy protein isolate, containing genistein, daidzein and glycitein, was used to study the profiles of soy isoflavone metabolites in Sprague-Dawley rats. After 50 days, rat liver tissues, serum and urine were analyzed by HPLC-MS and HPLC-ECD. HPLC-APCI-MS results showed that daidzein, equol, genistein and O-DMA were detected. Interestingly, the aglycone and the conjugated forms of formononetin, which is a methylated derivative of daidzein found in many plants, were also observed in rat liver and serum, but no t in urine. The respective concentrations of these two forms of formononetin were 0.056 ± 0.022 and 0.621 ± 0.116 nmoL/g (mean ± SD) in liver tissue, and were 0.005 ± 0.001 and 0.035 ± 0.002 nmoL/mL in rat serum. Formononetin in conjugated forms were 90.8% in liver tissue and 85.7% in serum by calculation. Incubation of daidzein with liver homogenate, microsomes, and catechol 4’- O-methyl transferase (COMT) resulted in a 7~10% conversion of daidzein to the aglycone form of formononetin. Formononetin is proposed t o be a metabolite of O-methylation of daidzein in rat liver and exists mainly in conjugated forms.