Dietary Genistein Influences Number of Acetylcholine Receptors in Female Diabetic Jejunum

Background. intestinal dysfunction in the ob/ob mouse model of diabetes mimics that seen clinically. methods. we determined the effects of a 4-week genistein diet (600 mg genistein/kg food) on intestinal function (contractility,morphology,achr,and motility) in female ob/ob and lean mice. results. contractility of the jejunum in response to incrementally increasing concentrations of kcl was comparable in ob/ob females and lean controls regardless of a genistein-diet. there were no changes in the wall thickness measured. we assessed the number of clusters of achr in the jejunum wall; achr were decreased by 48% in ob/ob mice versus leans,and the genistein diet reversed this. in utilizing a video-imaging system to evaluate gastrointestinal motility,we determined that the distance between consecutive contractile events was significantly increased by 1.87-fold in ob/ob mice versus leans,and the genistein diet was without effect. conclusions. these data suggest that slowed intestinal transit in the diabetic ob/ob mouse may be due in part to decreased achr and decreased contraction events occurring per unit time. a genistein diet rescues the number of achr to levels of leans yet did not change the number of contractile events. feeding ob/ob mice a genistein-rich diet has potential therapeutic benefits towards improving the debilitating diabetes-related gastrointestinal dysfunction. © 2017 sydney schacht et al.