Abstract
The hypothesis that the consumption of Aronia melanocarpa berries (chokeberries) extract, recently reported by us to improve bone metabolism in female rats at low-level and moderate chronic exposure to cadmium (1 and 5 mg Cd/kg diet for up to 24 months), may increase the bone resistance to fracture was investigated. Biomechanical properties of the neck (bending test with vertical head loading) and diaphysis (three-point bending test) of the femur of rats administered 0.1% aqueous chokeberry extract (65.74% of polyphenols) or/and Cd in the diet (1 and 5 mg Cd/kg) for 3, 10, 17, and 24 months were evaluated. Moreover, procollagen I was assayed in the bone tissue. The low-level and moderate exposure to Cd decreased the procollagen I concentration in the bone tissue and weakened the biomechanical properties of the femoral neck and diaphysis. Chokeberry extract administration under the exposure to Cd improved the bone collagen biosynthesis and femur biomechanical properties. The results allow for the conclusion that the consumption of chokeberry products under exposure to Cd may improve the bone biomechanical properties and protect from fracture. This study provides support for Aronia melanocarpa berries being a promising natural agent for skeletal protection under low-level and moderate chronic exposure to Cd.
Highlights
The growing occurrence of osteoporosis with bone fracture in inhabitants of industrialized countries, which has generated an increasing amount of attention in recent years, has been focused on environmental risk factors for bone damage [1,2,3] and numerous efforts have been undertaken to find effective ways of protecting bone [4,5,6]
Among the factors that may be useful in this protection, a subject of special interest is dietary products that are rich in biologically active substances, characterized by a well-defined beneficial impact on bone metabolism, including polyphenolic compounds that occur in green tea and some fruit and vegetables [4,5,6,7]
The study confirmed the previously reported results by us [15,16,17,18] relating to the unfavourable impact of low exposure to this heavy metal on the bone biomechanical properties, but it provided evidence that the biomechanical properties of the femur may be weakened at a lower exposure than was previously shown and a very low Cd concentration in the blood and urine (0.185–0.324 μg/L and 0.107–0.285 μg/g creatinine, respectively; such concentrations were reached after 17–24 months of the exposure to the 1 mg Cd/kg diet [25]), comparable to the metal concentrations commonly noted in the general population
Summary
The growing occurrence of osteoporosis with bone fracture in inhabitants of industrialized countries, which has generated an increasing amount of attention in recent years, has been focused on environmental risk factors for bone damage [1,2,3] and numerous efforts have been undertaken to find effective ways of protecting bone [4,5,6]. Numerous epidemiological data have shown that even low-level lifetime exposure to this heavy metal may decrease the bone mineral density (BMD) and contribute to osteoporosis with an increased risk of bone fracture in the general population [1,8,9,10]. It seems very important to recognize effective ways of preventing these health effects due to exposure to Cd, including its impact on the skeleton
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