Dietary Dried Plum Increases Bone Mass, Suppresses Proinflammatory Cytokines and Promotes Attainment of Peak Bone Mass in Male Mice

JOURNAL: Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry. 32 (2016)73-82.

AUTHORS: Shahnazari M, Turner RT, Iwaniec UT, Wronski TJ, Li M, Ferruzzi MG, Nissenson RA, Halloran BP.

Building on previous work in which diets with dried plum (DP) were shown to increase bone volume and strength, the investigators studied DP in skeletally mature (6-month) and growing (1 and 2- month-old) C57Bl/6 male mice. In adult mice, DP rapidly increased bone volume (+32%) and trabecular thickness (+24%) within 2 weeks. These changes were associated with decreased osteoclast surface (OcS/BS) and decreased serum CTX, a marker of bone resorption. Osteoblast surface (Ob.S/BS) and bone formation rate were also decreased suggesting that bone gain in adult mice is related to diminished bone resorption and formation, with resorption being reduced more than formation. There was also a decline in interleukins, TNF and MCP-1, suggesting that dried plums’ effect on bone is in part through the immune system to suppress inflammatory activity and reduce the size of osteoclast precursor pool. Feeding dried plum resulted in an increase in plasma phenolics, some of which have been shown to stimulate bone accrual. At levels as low as 5% of the diet (w/w), DP increased bone volume in growing and young adult mice. At 25% of the diet, bone volume was increased as much as 94%. The investigators state that these data demonstrate that DP dramatically increases bone mass during growth.