Osteoporosis has been reported as a hidden death factor in aged people. So far, prevention and treatment therapies for osteoporosis only slow down the progress but do not treat the disease. Fucoidan has been recognized its roles in anti-tumor, anti-inflammatory, anti-coagulant and antiviral activities. To date, low molecular weight (LMW) fucoidan role in bone loss disease has been not determined yet. Therefore, this study aims to figure out potential effects of LMW fucoidan in osteoporosis in vitro and in vivo. LMW fucoidan was extracted from fresh Sargassum hemiphyllum showing a significant increase in 7F2 cell viability to 150.33 ± 6.50 % relative to normal fucoidan (130.12 ± 5.74 %). The expression of level BMP-2, ALP, osteocalcin significantly increased with 2.28 ± 0.06, 2.18 ± 0.12 and 2.06 ± 0.07 fold, respectively. The RT-PCR assay showed that LMW fucoidan increased mRNA expression of BMP-2, ALP, osteocalcin, COL I, BSP and osteonectin. Furthermore, the bone density and bone ash weight were considerably boosted by the oral administration of 280 mg/kg LMW fucoidan and 100 mg/kg calcium carbonate in C57BL/6J female aged mice. The present finding indicated that LMW fucoidan triggered osteogenic differentiation in vitro, and had an anabolic effect on bone mineralization in vivo. Dietary intake of LMW fucoidan from S. hemiphyllum suggested playing a role in the enhancement of bone loss with increasing age.
Keywords: Aged mice; Bone; Low molecular weight fucoidan; Mineralization; Osteoblast.