STUDY: More help for bone loss

JOURNAL: Journal of Nutrition

AUTHORS:

ABSTRACT: A mouse model of osteoporosis was used to ascertain the benefit of hesperidin, a citrus bioflavonoid, on bone mineral density and lipids.

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COMMENTARY: Osteoporosis, a disease characterized by low bone mineral density and an increase in fracture risk, is most frequently found in women following menopause, when the ovaries’ production of estrogen has declined.

An increase in serum lipids, such as cholesterol and triglycerides, is also a concern among aging women and men. Mice in this study had their ovaries removed to mimic the endocrine status of postmenopausal females.

The Japanese researchers removed the ovaries of thirty-two mice. Eight rats serving as controls received sham surgeries which left the ovaries intact. The ovariectomized rats were divided into groups who received a diet containing hesperidin, alpha-glucosylhesperidin (hesperidin enzymatically modified to be more water soluble), or a control diet without hesperidin for four weeks. Some of the ovarietctomized mice who received the control diet additionally received subcutaneous estrogen replacement.

When the femurs of the mice were examined after four weeks, bone mineral density was much lower in the mice without ovaries on the control diet than in those who received the sham surgeries.

However, ovariectomized mice who received the diets enhanced with hesperidin had bone mineral density measurements similar to the mice with intact ovaries at all femur sites measured. Estrogen administration also prevented bone loss in the mice lacking ovaries.

When serum lipids were measured, total cholesterol and triglycerides were lower in the groups who received hesperidin than in the ovariectomized mice who received the control diet, although high density lipoprotein levels were similar.

The authors hypothesize that hesperidin acts on bone by the same mechanism as that of statin drugs: that of producing bone morphogenic protein. They recommend studies of the bioflavanoid’s effect on bone metabolism in humans.