Oligomeric proanthocyanidins ameliorates osteoclastogenesis through reducing OPG/RANKL ratio in chicken's embryos

Skeletal disorders can seriously threaten the health and the performance of poultry, such as tibial dyschondroplasia (TD) and osteoporosis (OP). Oligomeric proanthocyanidins (OPC) are naturally occurring polyphenolic flavonoid compounds that can be used as potential substances to improve the bone health and the growth performance of poultry. Eighty 7-day-old green-eggshell yellow feather layer chickens were randomly divided into four groups: basal diet and basal diet supplementation with 25, 50 and 100 mg/kg OPC. The results have indicated that the growth performance and bone parameters of chickens were significantly improved supplementation with OPC in vivo, including the bone volume (BV), the bone mineral density (BMD) and the activities of antioxidative enzymes, but ratio of osteoprotegerin (OPG)/receptor activator of NF-κB (RANK) ligand (RANKL) was decreased. Furthermore, primary bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) and bone marrow monocytes/macrophages (BMMs) were successfully isolated from femur and tibia of chickens, and co-cultured to differentiate into osteoclasts in vitro. The osteogenic differentiation derived from BMSCs was promoted treatment with high concentrations of OPC (10, 20 and 40 µmol/L) groups in vitro, but emerging the inhibition of osteoclastogenesis by increasing the ratio of OPG/RANKL. In contrary, the osteogenic differentiation was also promoted treatment with low concentrations of OPC (2.5, 5 and 10 µmol/L) groups, but osteoclastogenesis was enhanced by decreasing the ratio of OPG/RANKL in vitro. In addition, the differentiation and activity of osteoclasts were inhibited by OPG by increasing the autophagy in vitro. Dietary supplementation of OPC can improve the bone growth performance and alter the balance of osteoblast and osteoclast, thereby improving the bone health of chickens.