Sept 7 : Giving babies formula rich in soy may be good for them, for the isoflavones - biologically active compounds that are thought to have health benefits - present may reduce a baby’s susceptibility to rotavirus infections by as much as 74 percent.

Rotavirus is the primary cause of diarrhea in infants, affecting virtually all children before age five.

Sharon Donovan and Aline Andres at the University of Illinois carried out the study.

As a part of their study the researchers exposed cells in culture to rotavirus in the absence or presence of soy isoflavones, biologically active compounds in soy that are thought to have health benefits.

Soy contains a number of different forms of isoflavones, and all were tested individually and as the complete mixture present in infant formula.

“It’s exciting to think that the isoflavones in soy formula could be a cost-effective nutritional approach to decreasing the incidence and severity of rotavirus infections, especially among children in developing countries who are most at risk,” said Donovan.

The researchers found that the soy isoflavone genistin is an active component in reducing infectivity.

“Genistin and the mixture significantly reduced rotavirus infectivity by 33 to 74 percent. But when genistin was taken out of the mixture, anti-rotavirus activity was lost, suggesting that it is the active component in reducing infectivity,” she said.

The researchers focused their investigation on the isoflavone concentrations present in soy formula. That was the concentration at which rotavirus inhibition began to occur and then levelled off, indicating that there’s an effective range, and beyond that, there is no additional inhibition or toxicity.

“We then exposed the cells to different concentrations of rotavirus. If an infant had a severe infection or was exposed to a lot of rotavirus, we wondered if the isoflavones would still be as effective,” she said.

The inhibition held up across a 16-fold range of rotavirus exposure. “Even at the highest concentration of rotavirus particles, genistin or the mix of isoflavones inhibited infectivity,” said Donovan.

Donovan’s laboratory soon plans to begin studies with neonatal piglets, an excellent model for studying rotavirus infection and the nutritional effects of various components on the intestine.

The study is published in September’s Journal of Nutrition. (ANI)