Antioxidant lycopene supplementation has been shown to decrease oxidative stress and have beneficial effects on bone health. However, it remains unclear whether lycopene exerts its beneficial effect on bone metabolism through mitigation of oxidative stress in vivo. The aim of this study was to investigate whether lycopene intake protects against bone loss by reducing oxidative stress in ovariectomized rats. Female Sprague-Dawley 6-week-old rats were ovariectomized and randomly divided into four groups according to the lycopene content of their diet: 0, 50, 100, and 200 ppm. The tibial bone mineral density (BMD) in the 50, 100, and 200 ppm groups was significantly higher than that in the 0 ppm group. Serum and urinary bone resorption marker levels were significantly lower in the 50, 100, and 200 ppm groups than in the 0 ppm group. There was no significant difference in systemic oxidative stress markers among all groups. However, systemic oxidative stress levels were inversely correlated with the tibial BMD. Our findings suggest that lycopene intake significantly inhibits bone loss by suppressing bone resorption in ovariectomized rats. Further studies are necessary to clarify the effect of lycopene on oxidative stress in local tissues such as bone tissue.

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Summary It has not yet been examined whether salivary calcium levels reflect changes in bone mass. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between salivary calcium concentration and differences in bone mineral density due to estrogen deficiency and/or different calcium intake levels in female rats. In Experiment 1, the animals (n514) were divided into an ovariectomized group (OVX) (n58, 0.6% calcium diet) and a shamoperated group (Sham) (n56, 0.6% calcium diet). The bone mineral density (BMD) levels of the tibia and lumbar spine were significantly lower in the OVX group than in the Sham group (p,0.001 and p,0.01, respectively), whereas there was no significant difference in the salivary calcium concentration between the two groups. In Experiment 2, after an ovariectomy operation, the animals (n542) were randomized into five groups that received 0.01%, 0.1%, 0.6%, 1.2%, and 2.4% calcium diets (n510, 10, 6, 8, and 8, respectively). The BMD levels of the tibia and lumbar spine were significantly lower in the 0.01% or 0.1% calcium diet intake groups than in the 0.6%, 1.2%, 2.4% calcium diet intake groups (all p,0.001), whereas there were no differences in the salivary calcium concentration among the groups. In conclusion, the salivary calcium level did not change during periods of decreasing BMD and bone strength induced by estrogen deficiency and/or calcium intake restrictions in female rats.