Prune extract prevents disuse osteoporosis by inhibiting the decrease in osteoblast-related gene expression in sciatic-denervated rats

In sedentary modern society, disuse osteoporosis is a health issue. Here, we investigate whether prune extract prevents disuse osteoporosis in rats. After feeding a control diet or 10% (wt/wt) prune extract-containing diet for 14 ‍days, we performed sham operation in the left leg and sciatic denervation in the right leg to induce disuse osteoporosis in rats. The rats were fed the same diet prior to surgery for 7 days. The rats fed a control diet before sham operation on both legs were set as the control group, and those with sciatic denervation in the right leg fed a control diet or prune extract containing diet were set as the denervation with control diet and denervation with prune extract diet groups, respectively. Femoral bone volume/tissue volume, trabecular number, and trabecular thickness were reduced in the right leg of denervation with control diet group; however, this reduction was not observed in the denervation with prune extract diet group. Similar results were obtained for mRNA levels of osteoblast-related genes, such as <i>osteocalcin</i>. Overall, prune extract inhibited bone loss by preventing the decrease in osteoblast-related gene expression in disuse osteoporosis, thus showing to improve the bone metabolism and quality of life.