Effect of Soybean on Levels of LH, FSH and Testosterone Hormones and Testis in Adult Male Mice

Soybean is a member of Fabaceae and a species of legume native to east Asia. It is an annual plant that has been used in China for 5000 years as a food and a component of drugs. Soy contains significant amount of all the essential amino acids for humans and so is a good source of protein. Soy has an important role in improvement and treatment of some cancers such as colon, prostate and breast. A total of male mice with 30-35 g weight were bought from Razi Institute in Iran. At first the samples were kept under adaptation condition for two weeks and then randomly grouped into 4 experimental sections as: 1-Control group were feed with soy-free basic diet. 2-Nutrition containing 20% soy diet. 3-Nutrition containing 30% soy diet. 4-Nutrition containing 50% soy diet. At the end of 8 weeks of treatment blood was collected and serum stored for hormonal analysis. Results were computed with SPSS software and compared with control group. In 20% group the level of testosterone has meaningful decrease in comparison with control group, but in 50% group the level of testosterone has meaningful increase. Levels of LH in 30% and 50% groups have a meaningful increase but no significant difference was observed in FSH and weight of testicles. The number of sperms in all of the treatments have a meaningful decrease. The result of this research indicated that the 20, 30 and 50 percent soy diet had negative effect on male reproductive system in mice.