Preventing bone loss & weight gain with combinations of Vitamin D & phytochemicals

Abstract

Vitamin D (VD) & certain flavonoids have been shown to act directly on adipocytes & osteoblasts. In this study, we investigated whether a diet using a combination of flavonoids with VD would inhibit bone loss & decrease adiposity to a greater extent than control or VD alone diets. Ovariectomized (OVX) female rats (12 mo old, N=10, initial BW=240g) were given control (AIN‐93M diet alone), VD (10 IU/kg BW/d) or VD + resveratrol (R: 4, 20, or 100 mg/kg BW/d) + quercetin (Q: 20, 125 or 625 mg/kg BW/d) + genistein (G:16, 64 or 256 mg/kg BW/d) in AIN‐93M diet for 8 wk. After rats were killed, inguinal (I) & retroperitoneal (RP) fat pads were weighed & bones were collected for measurements. The high dose combination treatment (VD+R100+Q625+G256) significantly reduced BW gain (79±5 vs 62±3g, p<0.05), weight of RP+I fat pads (21.8±1 vs 19.8±0.8g, p<0.05) & RP+I fat pads as % of BW (7.5±0.4 vs 6.9±0.4%, p<0.05). Bone mineral density (BMD) & content (BMC) of femora were significantly increased by the high dose combination, although they weren't different from VD alone. However, BMD corrected for BW was significantly greater in the high dose treated group compared to both control & VD groups (4.7±0.05 vs 5.0±0.2 vs 5.6±0.2, p<0.05). We conclude that VD when combined with R, Q & G improved bone density & reduced weight gain & adiposity in OVX female rats compared to control & VD alone. Supported by the GA Research Alliance Eminent Scholar endowment (CAB).