Oral Bovine Lactoferrin Protects Bone Microarchitecture In Ovariectomized Mice

Estrogen deficiency and aging lead to a decrease of bone mineral density (BMD). Injected bovine lactoferrin (bLF) was suspected to improve bone status at physiological doses. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of oral bLF on quality of bone tissue in ovariectomized mice.Three‐month‐old female C3H mice were either ovariectomized or sham‐operated and fed for 6 months with the control diet (AIN‐93M) or diets including bLF (1, 5, 10 or 20 g/kg diet). Since BMD analysis does not take into account morphological alteration of bone architecture after ovariectomy, we analyzed microarchitectural parameters of bone tissue. Femurs of the mice were imaged by a Skyscan 1072 µCT with pixel size of 4 µm which may separately analyze trabecular and cortical bone. Volume, number, thickness and diameter of pores were measured at femur mid‐diaphysis.The results showed that oral bLF improved dose‐dependently BMD and femoral failure load, which are correlated to alterations of trabecular and cortical micro‐architecture. bLF inhibited the increase of cortical porosity induced by the ovariectomy. However bLF did not change significantly trabecular bone microarchitecture.In conclusion, oral bLF supplementation could display a beneficial effect on postmenopausal bone loss by modulating microarchitectural parameters of cortical bone which is strongly correlated to femoral failure load.