Pharmacokinetic analysis in serum of genistein administered subcutaneously to neonatal mice.

Genistein, the principal soy isoflavone, was previously shown to induce uterine adenocarcinomas by 18 months of age in female CD-1 mice following administration by subcutaneous injections on postnatal days 1-5. A serum pharmacokinetic analysis of genistein in male and female mice treated identically showed that: maximal concentrations of total (conjugated+aglycone) genistein in females (6.8+/-1.4 microM) and males (3.8+/-1.1 microM, mean+/-SD) were comparable to those previously reported from dietary exposures in adult rats or in human infants consuming soy formulas; the average fraction present as active aglycone (31%) was similar to those in fetal and neonatal rats from placental and lactational exposures; and elimination half-times were longer than those in rats (three- to seven-fold) and adult humans (two- to three-fold). These results are consistent with a diminished capacity for enzymatic conjugation of genistein, based on the ontogeny, as an important determinant of estrogenicity in neonatal mice.