Objective: We previously reported the efficacy of dried plum (Prunus domestica L.) in preventing ovariectomy-induced bone loss in a rat model of osteoporosis and improving bone biomarkers in postmenopausal women. The present study evaluated whether dried plum was able to restore bone mass in osteopenic ovariectomized rats.Design: Ninety-day-old Sprague-Dawley rats were either sham-operated (Sham; one group) or ovariectomized (Ovx; five groups) and were fed a standard diet for 40 days to establish bone loss and subsequently experimental treatments were initiated. Sham, Ovx control, and Ovx + 17b-estradiol (E 2 ; 10 mg/kg body weight per day) animals continued to receive the standard diet, whereas the remaining three Ovx groups received the following dietary treatments: Ovx + 5% dried plum (low dose), Ovx + 15% dried plum (medium dose), and Ovx + 25% dried plum (high dose). After 60 days, blood and bone specimens were collected for analyses.Results: Dried plum, as low as 5%, was effective in restoring femoral and tibial bone density. Dried plum increased lumbar bone density as well, with HD achieving a statistical significance. The increase in femoral bone density of dried plum-fed rats resulted in improved bone quality as indicated by 6.9% and 6.0% improvement in overall yield and ultimate force, respectively. Varying doses of dried plum were also able to significantly improve trabecular microarchitectural properties in comparison with ovariectomized controls.Conclusions: The improvement in biomechanical properties of long bones due to dried plum, in part, may be due to the favorable microstructural changes as evident by enhanced tibial bone volume and connectivity. Loss of bone volume accompanied by loss of trabecular connectivity is generally believed to be an irreversible process, but our observations suggest that dried plum improves trabecular microstructure of tibia after losses have already occurred.
BackgroundHigh prevalence of obesity and cardiovascular disease is attributable to sedentary lifestyle and eating diets high in fat and refined carbohydrate while eating diets low in fruit and vegetables. Epidemiological studies have confirmed a strong association between eating diets rich in fruits and vegetables and cardiovascular health. The aim of this pilot study was to determine whether drinking fresh carrot juice influences antioxidant status and cardiovascular risk markers in subjects not modifying their eating habits.MethodsAn experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of consuming 16 fl oz of daily freshly squeezed carrot juice for three months on cardiovascular risk markers, C-reactive protein, insulin, leptin, interleukin-1α, body fat percentage, body mass index (BMI), blood pressure, antioxidant status, and malondialdehyde production. Fasting blood samples were collected pre-test and 90 days afterward to conclude the study.ResultsDrinking carrot juice did not affect (P > 0.1) the plasma cholesterol, triglycerides, Apo A, Apo B, LDL, HDL, body fat percentage, insulin, leptin, interleukin-1α, or C-reactive protein. Drinking carrot juice decreased (P = 0.06) systolic pressure, but did not influence diastolic pressure. Drinking carrot juice significantly (P < 0.05) increased the plasma total antioxidant capacity and decreased (P < 0.05) the plasma malondialdehyde production.ConclusionDrinking carrot juice may protect the cardiovascular system by increasing total antioxidant status and by decreasing lipid peroxidation independent of any of the cardiovascular risk markers measured in the study.
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