Inhibition of Osteoclast Differentiation by Wheat Bran Butanol Fraction

Osteoporosis is a disease of bones that leads to an increased risk of fracture. In osteoporosis, the bone mineral density is reduced, bone microarchitecture deteriorates, and the amount and variety of proteins in bone are altered. It caused by the imbalance between born resorption and born formation. Recently natural products from plants have been extensively studied as therapeutic drugs to treat and prevent various diseases. Wheat bran is the hard outer layers of wheat grain and produced as a by-product of milling in the production of refined grains. In oriental medicines, Bu So Maek (Tritici Immaturi Semen) with wheat bran has been used as bronchitis, sedatives and anti-sweating effects. However effects of wheat bran butanol fraction (WBB, 50 μg/ml) in osteoclast differentiation remains unknown yet. Thus we investigated the effects of WBB on RANKL induced osteoclast differentiation. WBB inhibited osteoclast differentiation by downregulating the RANKL-induced activations of MAP kinases. Moreover mRNA expression of osteoclast-mediating molecules such as c-Fos, NFATc1 and DCSTAMP were attenuated by WBB during osteoclast differentiation. The finding of this study show that WBB and its components might prevent osteoclast-related bone loss.