Antarctic krill oil promotes longitudinal bone growth in adolescent male mice

Abstract The effects of dietary supplementation with Antarctic krill oil (AKO) on longitudinal bone growth in adolescent male Institute for Cancer Research (ICR) mice for 21 days were investigated. Histological results showed that AKO promoted longitudinal bone growth, increased skeletal mineral content and strength, enhanced entochondrostosis supported by higher longitudinal bone growth rate and growth plate height. Then, the potential mechanisms responsible for these observations were measured, results showed that AKO increased the secretion of the GH-IGF-1 pathway and entochondrostosis-related factors in serum increased the expression of IGF-1 in the liver and bone, which promoted proliferation and differentiation of chondrocytes, vascular invasion and bone formation related gene expression. AKO promoted longitudinal bone growth, using the GH-IGF-1 pathway, suggesting that AKO might be a potential functional food to improve growth potential of adolescents.