Food & Function 2018-04-11

Lactoferrin Preserves Bone Homeostasis by Regulating RANKL/RANK/OPG Pathway of Osteoimmunology

Fengjiao Fan, Pujie Shi, Meng Liu, Hui Chen, Maolin Tu, Weihong Lu, Ming Du

Index: 10.1039/C8FO00303C

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Abstract

Osteoporosis can be classified as an inflammatory disease and the crosstalk between immune system and bone growth should be considered. The effects of bovine lactoferrin on bone by osteoimmunology were investigated in the present study. Ten weeks old female BALB/c mice were assigned to ovariectomized (OVX) and fed for 12 weeks with control diet or lactoferrin (2, 20 and 100 mg/kg·d). Results showed that 12 weeks treatment after surgery, OVX resulted in bone loss, but treatment with lactoferrin preserved bone homeostasis. Lactoferrin significantly improved bone mineral density, and increased the serum levels of alkaline phosphatase, while it decreased the serum levels of tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase. Furthermore, by using micro-computed tomography (micro-CT), bone volume per tissue volume (BV/TV), trabecular thickness (Tb.Th) and trabecular number (Tb.N) were elevated. Results indicated that structure model index (SMI) was reduced in OVX+LF groups. Additionally, lactoferrin enhanced the Max-Load and Max-Stress values of femur, and increased the content of Ca and P. However, lactoferrin suppressed RANKL/OPG ratio in OVX mice. Moreover, interferon-γ, interleukin-5 and interleukin-10 were elevated significantly in OVX+LF groups. Lactoferrin had a positive effect on bone micro-environment and might be a pleiotropic protein for prevention and treatment of estrogen-dependent bone loss by osteoimmunology pathway.