Densitometric, tomographic and mechanical parameters of the female Wistar rat skeletal system after lactoferrin and colostrum treatment in the condition of gonadectomy-induced osteopenia

Abstract

Colostrum (COL) is a valuable discharge of the mammary glands of mammal females, which contains many bioactive components that are indispensable for the normal development of the young organism. Lactoferrin (LF) is one of the colostrum components serving a wide range of functions in the organism, e.g. it is involved in iron metabolism and has anti-inflammatory or immune activity. The experiment was conducted on 36 female Wistar rats in conditions of established osteopenia (60 days after gonadectomy). Females from the experimental groups were administered lactoferrin at the doses of 20 and 40 mg/kg b.w. and colostrum at the doses of 0.5 and 1.0 ml/100g b.w. The results indicate that application of both COL and LF in conditions of established bone tissue atrophy induced by prolonged deficiency of sex steroid hormones has an osteoprotective effect on bone tissue. LF and COL inhibit a decrease in femoral BMC and BMD and improve bone strength parameters at the doses LF=20mg/kg b.w. and COL=5 ml/100 g b.w. However, high doses LF=40 mg/kg b.w. and COL=10 ml/100g b.w. may impede the improvement of bone strength. In femoral cancellous bone tissue, LF reduces the decline in BMC and vBMD, likewise COL, which additionally inhibits atrophy of the cancellous bone tissue. Administration of LF and COL reduced body mass gain and decreased the content of adipose tissue in the OVX rats. The presented results suggest a possibility of therapeutics use of lactoferrin and colostrum for improving the condition of bone tissue.