Dendrobium officinale polysaccharides regulate age-related lineage commitment between osteogenic and adipogenic...

Excessive oxidative stress and diminished antioxidant defences could contribute to age-related tissue damage and various diseases including age-related osteoporosis. Dendrobium officinale polysaccharides (DOPs), a major ingredient from a traditional Chinese medicine, have a great potential of antioxidative activity. In this study, we explore the role of DOP in age-related osteoporosis that remains elusive.

Oxidative stimulation and DOP were used to treat bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs), whose lineage commitment was measured by adipogenic- and osteoblastic-induced differentiation analysis. The oxidative stress and antioxidant capacity of BMSCs under the treatment of DOP were analysed by the level of MDA, SOD. Related mechanism studies were confirmed by qRT-PCR, Western blotting and siRNA transfection. DOP was orally administrated in aged mice whose phenotype was confirmed by micro-CT, immunofluorescence, immunochemistry and calcein double-labelling analysis.

Dendrobium officinale polysaccharide treatment markedly increased osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs, while inhibiting adipogenic differentiation. In vitro, DOP could rescue H2O2-induced switch of BMSCs differentiation fate. However, this effect was abolished in BMSCs when interfered with Nrf2 siRNA. Furthermore, administration of DOP to aged mice significantly increased the bone mass and reduced the marrow adipose tissue (MAT) accompanied with decreased oxidative stress of BMSCs.

Our study reveals that DOP can attenuate bone loss and MAT accumulation through NRF2 antioxidant signalling, which may represent as potential therapeutic agent for age-related osteoporosis.