Feeding Blueberry Diets to Young Rats Dose-Dependently Inhibits Bone Resorption through Suppression of RANKL in Stromal Cells

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Abstract
Previous studies have demonstrated that weanling rats fed AIN-93G semi-purified diets supplemented with 10% whole blueberry (BB) powder for two weeks beginning on postnatal day 21 (PND21) significantly increased bone formation at PND35. However, the minimal level of dietary BB needed to produce these effects is, as yet, unknown. The current study examined the effects of three different levels of BB diet supplementation (1, 3, and 5%) for 35 days beginning on PND25 on bone quality, and osteoclastic bone resorption in female rats. Peripheral quantitative CT scan (pQCT) of tibia, demonstrated that bone mineral density (BMD) and content (BMC) were dose-dependently increased in BB-fed rats compared to controls (Pin vitro cell cultures revealed that the inhibitory effect of BB diet rat serum on RANKL expression was more profound in mesenchymal stromal cells compared to its effect on mature osteoblasts, pre-adipocytes and osteocytes. These results suggest that inhibition of bone resorption may contribute to increased bone mass during early development after BB consumption.

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