Conjugated linoleic acid and calcium co-supplementation improves bone health in ovariectomised mice

Abstract

Osteoporosis is a significant health concern for the elderly; conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) has been shown to improve overall bone mass when calcium is included as a co-supplement. However, potential effects of CLA and calcium on bone mass during a period of bone loss have not been reported. The purpose of this study was to determine how dietary calcium modulates the effects of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) in preventing bone loss, using an ovariectomised mouse model. CLA supplementation significantly prevented ovariectomy-associated weight and fat mass gain, compared to non-supplemented controls. CLA significantly increased bone markers without major changes in bone mineral composition in the femur compared to respective controls. CLA treatment increased serum parathyroid hormone (PTH) significantly (p = 0.0172), while serum 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 concentration was not changed by CLA. Meanwhile, CLA significantly reduced femur tartrate resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) activity, suggesting potential reduction of osteoclastogenesis. The data suggest that CLA, along with dietary calcium, has great potential to be used to prevent bone loss and weight gain associated with menopause.

Conjugated Linoleic Acid Prevents Ovariectomy‐Induced Bone Loss in Mice by Modulating Both Osteoclastogenesis and Osteoblastogenesis

“…Moreover, CLA supplementation reduced the rate of bone resorption in adult OVX rats (21), and has been shown to improve immunity and bone formation (29). Very recently, Park et al demonstrated that CLA improved bone health of ovariectiomized ICR mice supplemented with calcium (37). However, not all have been able to confirm the beneficial effects of dietary CLA supplementation.…”

“…Given that CLA modulates PGE 2 activity, it is possible that CLA supplementation could reduce bone loss in postmenopausal women through this mechanism. The majority of the previous studies are of short term (4-12 weeks) and do not include data on bone loss in ovariectomized mice fed CLA alone (11, 37). There was a report of beneficial effects from short-term treatment of CLA (9 weeks) against ovariectomy-induced bone resorption in rat (21).…”

Conjugated Linoleic Acid and Postmenopausal Women's Health

“…It is still unknown whether the action of CLA on body fat reduction in postmenopausal model is estrogen‐mimetic or not. Animal studies showed that CLA reduced body weight in an estrogen‐deficient OVX model in a similar manner to the sham model, which uses the physiologic range of estrogen (Kanaya and Chen ; Park and others ). These findings suggest that CLA has an antiobesity effect in mice independent of estrogen levels.…”

“…It is known that estrogen deficiency causes bone loss as a result of accelerated osteoclastic bone resorption with increased prostaglandin E 2 production (Kanematsu and others ). In animal studies using ovariectomy (OVX)‐induced estrogen‐deficient rodent models, CLA has shown to prevent bone loss and improve bone formation (Kelly and Cashman ; Park and others ; Rahman and others ). In particular, CLA supplementation dose dependently reduced prostaglandin E 2 biosynthesis that were increased in OVX control, concomitant with reduction of urinary pyridinoline and deoxypyridinoline (markers of bone resorption) excretion in bone organ culture from OVX rats (Kelly and Cashman ).…”

“…Along with its role on bone resorption, others reported that 0.5% CLA supplementation enhanced bone formation markers in OVX mice, including the interaction between CLA and calcium supplementation in the regulation of bone metabolism (Park and others ; Rahman and others ). Moreover, the role of CLA, particularly for the trans ‐10, cis ‐12 isomer, in osteoblastogenesis has been reported in bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (Kim and others ), although its role in osteoblastogenesis during estrogen deficiency period is not known.…”