Dietary supplementation with dried plum prevents ovariectomy-induced bone loss while modulating the immune response in C57BL/6J mice.

Abstract This study was designed to investigate the effects of dried plum on the changes in bone metabolism and the immune response associated with ovarian hormone deficiency. Adult female C57BL/6J mice were either sham-operated (Sham) and fed AIN-93 diet (control) or ovariectomized (OVX) and fed a control diet with 0%, 5%, 15% or 25% dried plum (w/w), corresponding to control, low- (LDP), medium- (MDP) and high (HDP)-dose dried plum. Four weeks of HDP supplementation prevented the decrease in spine bone mineral density and content induced by OVX. The OVX compromise in trabecular bone of the vertebra and proximal tibia was prevented by the higher doses of dried plum, and in the vertebra these effects resulted in greater ( P ex vivo by splenocytes, in response to concanavalin (Con) A stimulation. These data indicate that dried plum's positive effects on bone structural and biomechanical properties coincide with the restoration of certain bone marrow myeloid and lymphoid populations, and suppressed splenocyte activation occurring with ovarian hormone deficiency.