The Effects of Silk Fibroin on Bone Metabolism in Ovariectomized Rats

Abstract

The study aimed to investigate the effects of silk fibroin on bone metabolism in ovariectomized rats. A total of thirty Sprague‐ Dawley rats were randomized into sham‐operated (SHAM), OVX control (OVX), Alendronate (OVX+ALEN, 10mg/kg bw/day), low silk fibroin (OVX+LSF, 100mg/kg bw/day) and high silk fibroin (OVX+HSF, 300mg/kg bw/day). All the rats were fed by gavage for 12 weeks. After 12 weeks, blood and urine were collected for bone turnover marker and bone mineral density (BMD) was measured by micro‐computed tomography. As a result the means of body weight gain were the highest in the OVX group (p< 0.05). Serum levels of bone alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and urine levels of deoxypyridinoline (DPD) were the highest in the OVX group among the five groups (p< 0.05). Bone ALP of ALEN group was significantly lower than silk treated groups, on the other hand, DPD was not significantly different among ALEN and silk treated groups (p< 0.05). BMD of trabecular bone was significantly increased in the ALEN and silk treated groups compared with OVX group (p< 0.05). Therefore, silk fibroin has similar effects as alendronate which is used for osteoporosis medication and might be new candidate for the osteoporosis prevention and treatment.