Abstract
The role of dietary fat unsaturation and the supplementation of coenzyme Q have been evaluated in relation to bone health. Male Wistar rats were maintained for 6 or 24 months on two diets varying in the fat source, namely virgin olive oil, rich in monounsaturated fatty acids, or sunflower oil, rich in n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids. Both dietary fats were supplemented or not with coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10). Bone mineral density (BMD) was evaluated in the femur. Serum levels of osteocalcin, osteopontin, receptor activator of nuclear factor κB ligand (RANKL), osteoprotegerin (OPG), adrenocorticotropin (ACTH) and parathyroid hormone (PTH), as well as urinary F2-isoprostanes were measured. Aged animals fed on virgin olive oil showed higher BMD than those fed on sunflower oil. In addition, CoQ10 prevented the age-related decline in BMD in animals fed on sunflower oil. Urinary F2-isoprostanes analysis showed that sunflower oil led to the highest oxidative status in old animals, which was avoided by supplementation with CoQ10. In conclusion, lifelong feeding on virgin olive oil or the supplementation of sunflower oil on CoQ10 prevented, at least in part mediated by a low oxidative stress status, the age-related decrease in BMD found in sunflower oil fed animals.
Highlights
In humans, regardless of gender, aging leads to a progressive decline in bone mass, which is associated with other factors affecting bone architecture and organization [1,2,3]
Aged animals fed on virgin olive oil showed higher Bone mineral density (BMD) than those fed on sunflower oil
At the end of the experiment, rats from the V group presented higher, but not significantly different body weight (534.5 ± 51.8 g) than those fed on sunflower oil from the S group (animals fed on sunflower oil (508.3 ± 19.5 g)
Summary
Regardless of gender, aging leads to a progressive decline in bone mass, which is associated with other factors affecting bone architecture and organization [1,2,3] These changes would explain the increased prevalence of osteoporosis in the aged population [4]. In the present study, long-lived male rats were used as an experimental model of aging to evaluate the role of different dietary unsaturated fats on bone aging and health. Animals were fed life-long on purified, semisynthetic, normocaloric and normolipidic diets based on two different fat sources (virgin olive or sunflower oils) rich in unsaturated fatty acids but with clearly different lipid profiles (mainly rich in MUFA or n-6 PUFA, respectively). The interaction between dietary fat and CoQ10 at the bone level was investigated in the present study by including in the experimental design groups of rats fed on the different dietary fats with our without CoQ10 supplementation
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