Maternal Consumption of Hesperidin and Naringin  Flavanones Exerts Transient Effects to Tibia Bone  Structure in Female CD‐1 Offspring

Abstract

Hesperidin (HSP) and naringin (NAR), flavanones rich in citrus fruits, support skeletal integrity in adult and aging rodent models. This study determined whether maternal consumption of HSP and NAR favorably programs bone development, resulting in higher bone mineral density (BMD) and greater structure and biomechanical strength (i.e., peak load) in female offspring. Female CD-1 mice were fed a control diet or a HSP + NAR diet five weeks before pregnancy and throughout pregnancy and lactation. At weaning, female offspring were fed a control diet until six months of age. The structure and BMD of the proximal tibia were measured longitudinally using in vivo micro-computed tomography at 2, 4, and 6 months of age. The trabecular bone structure at two and four months and the trabecular BMD at four months were compromised at the proximal tibia in mice exposed to HSP and NAR compared to the control diet (p < 0.001). At six months of age, these differences in trabecular structure and BMD at the proximal tibia had disappeared. At 6 months of age, the tibia midpoint peak load, BMD, structure, and the peak load of lumbar vertebrae and femurs were similar (p > 0.05) between the HSP + NAR and control groups. In conclusion, maternal consumption of HSP and NAR does not enhance bone development in female CD-1 offspring.

Nutritional Programming of Bone Structure in Male Offspring by Maternal Consumption of Citrus Flavanones

“…Maternal or early life exposure to a high-fat diet [ 3 ], protein undernutrition [ 4 ], as well as supplementation with micronutrients including folic acid [ 5 ] and vitamin D [ 6 ] has been shown to favorably [ 5 , 6 ] or unfavorably [ 4 ] program bone health in growing and adult offspring. In addition to these data, our laboratory has shown that bioactives such as citrus flavanones [ 7 ] and soy isoflavones [ 8 – 10 ] set a trajectory for better [ 8 – 10 ] or compromised [ 7 ] bone health in adult CD-1 offspring and that effects in offspring are sometimes sex-specific.…”

In ovo injection of flavanone on bone quality characteristics, biochemical parameters and antioxidant enzyme status of blood in daily chicks

“…Based on a mouse model offspring, Sacco, Saint, Leblanc, and Ward () showed improved bone stucture and greater bone strenght in female CD‐1 offspring when maternal used flavanone via the mechanism of modulating signalling proteins and bone cell differentiation to increase bone formation and higher bone mass density. They explained that time of influencing is important to achieve positive results.…”

“…They reported the positive effect of this flavonoid as a phytoestrogen that mimics 17‐β oestradiol in higher dose and period time of administration. Flavanone may modulate circulating levels of calciotropic hormones result in alterations calcium availability in foetus; however, this should be determined clearly (Sacco et al, ).…”

Proper Positioning and Restraint of a Rat Hind Limb for Focused High Resolution Imaging of Bone Micro-architecture Using <em>In Vivo</em> Micro-computed Tomography

“…This will provide a continuum in the field of in vivo µCT image acquisition and serve as a step towards optimizing the consistency and accuracy within studies and enable comparisons across studies in the literature. Similarly, these protocols and methods can be expanded for use in other rodent species, including mice, although some changes will be required 2 10 . For example, the restraint of the foot in the foam tube can include the ankle to minimize the possibility of leg movement during the scan.…”

“…This feature not only reduces the total number of rodents required in an experimental design and thereby reduces the inter-subject variation that can arise, but also allows researchers to understand long-term responses to an intervention. With the use of repeated in vivo µCT, experiments in mice and rats have elucidated developmental changes to bone micro-architecture and bone mineral density (BMD) throughout periods of the lifespan 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 as well as the response of bone health to interventions such as diet 9 10 , ovariectomy 7 11 and pharmacologic agents 8 12 13 . BMD and bone micro-architecture at specific skeletal sites, namely the proximal tibia, femur and lumbar vertebrae, are indicative of overall bone health and of the risk of sustaining a fracture and so are the primary measures when quantifying responses to an intervention.…”