Daily intake of β-cryptoxanthin prevents bone loss by preferential disturbance of osteoclastic activation in ovariectomized mice

Although beta-cryptoxanthin, a xanthophyll carotenoid, has been shown to exert an anabolic effect on bone calcification, little attention has been paid thus far to the precise mechanism of bone remodeling. Daily oral administration of beta-cryptoxanthin significantly inhibited osteoclastic activation as well as reduction of bone volume in ovariectomized mice. In vitro studies revealed that beta-cryptoxanthin inhibited differentiation and maturation of osteoclasts by repression of the nuclear factor-kappa B-dependent transcriptional pathway. Our results suggest that supplementation with beta-cryptoxanthin would be beneficial for prophylaxis and for therapy of metabolic bone diseases associated with abnormal osteoclast activation. (C) 2015 Japanese Pharmacological Society. Production and hosting by Elsevier B. V. on behalf of Japanese Pharmacological Society.