(Phytochemicals in) Foods to Prevent and Treat diseases - Osteoporosis

Osteoporosis is defined as a condition of thinning of bone and bone tissues as a result of lossing of bone density over a long period of time.

Types of food to prevent and treat Osteoporosis
1. Green tea
In the study to investigate whether black tea polyphenol, theaflavin-3,3'-digallate (TFDG) and green tea, epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG)affect MMP activity and osteoclast formation and differentiation in vitro, showed that TFDG and EGCG inhibited the formation and differentiation of osteoclasts via inhibition of MMPs. TFDG may suppress actin ring formation more effectively than EGCG. Thus, TFDG and EGCG may be suitable agents or lead compounds for the treatment of bone resorption diseases(1).

2. Soy
In the study to clarify the effect of ingesting soy isoflavone extracts (not soy protein or foods containing isoflavones) on bone mineral density (BMD) in menopausal women, found that  the varying effects of isoflavones on spine BMD across trials might be associated with study characteristics of intervention duration (6 vs. 12 months), region of participant (Asian vs. Western), and basal BMD (normal bone mass vs. osteopenia or osteoporosis). No significant effects on femoral neck, hip total, and trochanter BMD were found. Soy isoflavone extract supplements increased lumbar spine BMD in menopausal women(2).

3. Orange juice
In the study to evaluate the possible variations in antioxidant enzymes, lipid peroxidation and erythrocyte deformability in experimentally induced osteoporosis in female rats and to assess the effects of vitamin C supplementation on those variations, indicated that BMD was significantly lower in the group O than in the group C (p = 0.015), whereas it was significantly higher in the group OVC than in the group O (p = 0.003). MDA activity was significantly higher in the group O than in the group C (p = 0.032), whereas it was significantly lower in the group OVC than in the group O (p = 0.025). SOD activity was significantly higher in the group O than in the group C (p = 0.032). Erythrocyte deformability was significantly higher in the group O than in the group C and OVC (p = 0.008, p = 0.021, respectively)(3).

4. Milk thistle seeds
In the study to investigate that silibinin had bone-forming and osteoprotective effects in in vitro cell systems of murine osteoblastic MC3T3-E1 cells and RAW 264.7 murine macrophages, found that that silibinin retarded tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase and cathepsin K induction and matrix metalloproteinase-9 activity elevated by RANKL through disturbing TRAF6-c-Src signaling pathways. These results demonstrate that silibinin was a potential therapeutic agent promoting bone-forming osteoblastogenesis and encumbering osteoclastic bone resorption(4).

5. Skin and seed of grape
In the study to investigate the molecular mechanism of how resveratrol can modulate the lineage commitment of human mesenchymal stem cells to osteogenesis other than adipogenesis, showed that
resveratrol promoted spontaneous osteogenesis but prevented adipogenesis in human embryonic stem cell-derived mesenchymal progenitors. Resveratrol upregulated the expression of osteo-lineage genes RUNX2 and osteocalcin while suppressing adipo-lineage genes PPARγ2 and LEPTIN in adipogenic medium. Furthermore,  the osteogenic effect of resveratrol was mediated mainly through SIRT1/FOXO3A with a smaller contribution from the estrogenic pathway(5).

6. Etc.


Sources
(1) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22186621
(2) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20199985
(3) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22180984
(4) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21898547
(5) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21713995