Health Professional Section Abstracts of Studies

Bone Health

Dried Plum Polyphenols Attenuate the Detrimental Effects of TNF-a on Osteoblast Function Coincident with Up-regulation of Runx2, Osterix and IGF-1
Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry DOI:10.1016/j.jnutbio.2007.11.012
Published online ahead of print May 20, 2008. Bu, S.Y., Hunt, T.S., and Smith, B.J.

This cell culture study investigated how dried plum polyphenols and different concentrations ((0, 2.5, 5, 10 and 20 μg/ml) might influence osteoblast activity and mineralized nodule formation under normal and inflammatory conditions. Polyphenol doses of 5, 10 and 20 μg/ml enhanced the production of compounds linked to bone formation and countered the detrimental effects of TNF-a addition.

Dried Plum Polyphenols Inhibit Osteoclastogenesis by Downregulating NFATc1 and Inflammatory Mediators. Calcified Tissue International (DOI 10.1007/s00223-008-9139-0).
Bu SY, Lerner M, Stoecker BJ, Boldrin E, Brackett DJ, Lucas EA and Smith BJ.

This study investigated dried plum polyphenols' effect on osteoclast differentiation and activity in cell cultures. Results of this study, combined with results of the authors' previous reports, suggest that the antiresorptive properties of dried plums observed in animal studies are in part mediated by polyphenols suppression of osteoclast differentiation and activity under normal, oxidative stress, and inflammatory conditions.

Dried Plum Reverses Bone Loss in an Osteopenic Rat Model of Osteoporosis Menopause
(2005)12:755-762.
Deyhim F, Stoecker BJ, Brusewitz GH, Devareddy L, and Arjmandi BH.

This study evaluated whether dried plum was able to restore bone mass in osteopenic ovariectomized rats. Dried plum at 5% of the diet appeared effective in helping restore femoral and tibial bone density and increasing lumbar bone density. The increase in femoral bone density in rats fed dried plum diets resulted in improved bone quality as indicated by 6.9% and 6.0% improvement in overall yield and ultimate force respectively. The improvement in biomechanical properties of long bones due to dried plum, in part, may be due to the favorable microstructural changes as evident by enhanced tibial bone volume and connectivity.

Dried Plum Prevents Bone Loss in a Male Osteoporosis Model via IGF-I and the RANK Pathway
BONE 39, no. 6 (2006): 1331–1342
Franklin, M., Bu, S.Y., Lerner, M.R., Lancaster, E.A., Bellmer, D., Marlow, D., Lightfoot, S. A., Arjmandi, B.H., Brackett, D.J., Lucas, E.A. and Smith, B.J.

The study was designed to determine the extent to which dried plum may help prevent skeletal deterioration in gonadal hormone deficient male animals and to begin to understand the mechanism. Sham operated on orchidectomized male rats fed dried plum diets at 5, 15 and 25 percent (w/w) levels. The 15 and 25 percent dried plum diets helped prevent the ORX-induced decrease in whole body, femur and lumbar vertebrae bone mineral density. Results of other biomechanical testing are discussed. The authors conclude that dried plum may help prevent osteopenia in androgen deficient male rats and that the benefits may be attributed in part to a decrease in osteoclastogenesis via down-regulation of the RANKl and stimulation of bone formation mediated by IGF-I.

Dried Plums Prevent Ovariectomy-Induced Bone Loss in Rats
Journal of the American Nutraceutical Association 4 (2001): 50–56
Arjmandi, B.H., Lucas, E.A., Juma, S., Soliman, A., Stoecker, B.J., Khalil, D.A., Smith, B. J. and Wang, C.

In an animal model of hormone deficiency, female rats were fed dried plums at 5 percent and 25 percent (w/w) of the diet. Ovariectomy significantly reduced bone mineral density of the 4th lumbar vertebrae and femurs and decreased trabecular bone area of the tibia. The high dose dried plum diet may have helped prevent this bone loss and the dried plum diet’s dose may have dependently enhanced circulating IGF-I, known to stimulate bone formation.