Oral bovine lactoferrin improves bone status of ovariectomized mice

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of dietary lactoferrin on bone metabolism in vivo using a postmenopausal animal model. We investigated whether bovine lactoferrin (bLF) ingestion could prevent bone loss in ovariectomized mice. Twelve-week-old female C3H mice either ovariectomized or sham operated were fed for 27 wk with the control diet (AIN-93M with 140 g of total milk protein as a protein source per kg of diet). Four groups of ovariectomized mice received diets including different concentrations of bLF (1, 5, 10, or 20 g of total milk protein were replaced by bLF). Ovariectomy induced a decreased uterine weight and a smaller gain of bone mineral density. Immunoreactive bLF was detected in the peripheral blood, and its concentration was related to the amount of bLF ingestion. bLF supplementation to the diet improved bone mineral density (BMD) and femoral failure load in a dose-dependent manner. We confirmed the direct effects of bLF in vitro using established and primary cultures of murine bone cells. Addition of bLF to the culture medium at a concentration of between 1 and 1,000 microg/ml stimulated both cell growth and differentiation of osteoblastic MC3T3 cells while inhibiting the growth of preosteoclastic RAW 267.4 cells. In primary culture of mixed bone cells, an enhanced osteoblast differentiation was associated with an inhibition of osteoclast differentiation at lower bLF concentrations (1-10 microg/ml). In conclusion, these findings suggest that dietary lactoferrin supplementation can have a beneficial effect on postmenopausal bone loss by modulating bone formation and resorption.

Bone Regeneration Is Promoted by Orally Administered Bovine Lactoferrin in a Rabbit Tibial Distraction Osteogenesis Model

“…Our results were consistent with those of previous studies [4,9,11] which indicated that dietary lactoferrin supplementation could have a beneficial effect on postmenopausal bone loss by modulating bone formation and resorption. Based on these results, it appears that promotion of bone formation and inhibition of bone resorption by bovine lactoferrin contributed to increased bone mineral density and composition of the distracted calluses.…”

“…Previous studies [4,9] showed that bovine lactoferrin increased the parameters of mechanical strength in a dose-dependent manner, and our results agreed with these findings. The above results support that oral administration of bovine lactoferrin contributed to the accelerated biomechanical strength of the distracted calluses.…”

“…These results might be explained by the dual effects of bovine lactoferrin on bone formation and bone resorption. According to previous studies [4,24], bovine lactoferrin treatment not only promotes bone formation through increasing the number of osteoblasts and enhancing the ability of the osteoblasts to synthesize and mineralize the bone matrix, but also inhibits bone resorption by reducing the number of osteoclasts formed from precursor cells.…”

Bovine lactoferrin improves bone mass and microstructure in ovariectomized rats via OPG/RANKL/RANK pathway

“…One week after the surgery, the Ovx rats were randomly divided into six groups of 10 rats each, as follows: Ovx untreated (Con); Ovx+17β-estradiol 0.1 mg·kg -1 ·week -1 , the positive control (E 2 ); Ovx+LF 10 mg·kg -1 ·d -1 (LF 1 ); Ovx+LF 100 mg·kg -1 ·d -1 (LF 2 ); Ovx+LF 1.0 g·kg -1 ·d -1 (LF 3 ); and Ovx+LF 2.0 g·kg -1 ·d -1 (LF 4 ). The doses of LF were chosen according to previous studies in the literature [21] .…”

Effects of in ovo injection of bovine lactoferrin before incubation in layer breeder eggs on tibia measurements and performance of laying hens

“…In other animal species, information regarding lactoferrin is also reported. In a study reported by Blais et al (2009), bovine lactoferrin (bLF) was added to diets of ovariectonmized mice at a level of 1, 5, 10, 15 and 20 g/kg for 27 weeks, and it was shown that bLF improved bone mineral density (BMD) and femoral failure load in a dosedependent manner. These researchers also reported that addition of bLF to the culture medium at a level of 5 to 100 and 50 to 1000 μg/ml could improve growth and alkalin phosphatase activity of osteoblasts, respectively.…”