Effects of Dried Plum Supplementation on Bone Metabolism in Adult C57BL/6 Male Mice

• Published in: Calcified tissue international Vol. 94; no. 4; pp. 442 - 453
• Main Authors: Smith, B. J., Graef, J. L., Wronski, T. J., Rendina, E, Williams, A. A., Clark, K. A., Clarke, S. L., Lucas, E. A., Halloran, B. P.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston Springer US 01-04-2014; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Absorptiometry, Photon; Abundance; Aging; Animals; Antioxidants - chemistry; Biochemistry; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Body Composition; Bone and Bones - drug effects; Bone and Bones - metabolism; Bone Density; Bone Diseases, Metabolic - drug therapy; Bone Marrow - metabolism; Cell Biology; Cell Differentiation; Dietary supplements; Endocrinology; Femur - pathology; Gene Expression Profiling; Gene Expression Regulation; Glutathione Peroxidase - metabolism; Life Sciences; Male; Metabolism; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Original Research; Orthopedics; Osteoclasts - cytology; Osteoporosis; Osteoporosis - physiopathology; Oxidative Stress; Plant Extracts - chemistry; Prunus; Prunus - chemistry; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; Rodents; Surface Properties; Whole Body Imaging; X-Ray Microtomography; Aging; Osteoporosis; Oxidative stress; Plum; Skeleton
• ISSN: 0171-967X; 1432-0827
• DOI: 10.1007/s00223-013-9819-2

Dietary supplementation of dried plum (DP) prevents bone loss and restores bone mass in osteopenic animal models. This study was designed to determine the effects of DP supplementation on bone metabolic activity over time using adult (6-month-old) male C57BL/6 mice (
n
 = 40) receiving control (CON = AIN93 M) or CON+DP 25 % (w/w) diets for 4 or 12 weeks. After 4 weeks of treatment, animals consuming the DP diet had a higher whole-body bone mineral density, vertebral trabecular bone volume (BV/TV), and femoral cortical thickness compared to the CON animals. In the distal metaphysis of the femur, BV/TV was increased in the DP-treated animals, but only after 12 weeks. Bone histomorphometric analyses revealed that DP decreased osteoblast surface (67 %) and osteoclast surface (62 %) at 4 weeks, but these surfaces normalized to the CON animals by 12 weeks. Coincident with these changes, the mineralizing surface (MS/BS) and cancellous bone formation rate (BFR/BS) were reduced at 4 weeks in the DP group compared to the CON, but by 12 weeks of DP supplementation, BFR/BS (~twofold) and MS/BS (~1.7-fold) tended to be increased (
p
 < 0.10). The relative abundance of RNA for key regulators of osteoblast and osteoclast differentiation and indicators of osteoblast activity were reduced in the DP group at 4 weeks with no difference between groups at 12 weeks. These results indicate that supplementing the diet with DP initially suppressed cancellous bone turnover, but a biphasic response occurs over time, resulting in a positive effect on bone mass and structure.