Conjugated linoleic acid prevents age-induced bone loss in mice by regulating both osteoblastogenesis and adipogenesis

Osteoporosis (OP) can increase the risk of bone fracture and other complications, which is a major clinical problem. Previous researches have revealed that conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) can promote the bone formation. But the mechanisms are not clear. Thus, we tested the hypothesis that CLA acts on bone formation might be via mTOR Complex1 (mTORC 1) pathway by in vitro and vivo assays. We studied the effect of CLA mix on MC3T3-E1 pre-osteoblasts differentiation into osteoblasts, and bone formation under osteoporotic conditions. At the same time, 3T3-L1 pre-adipocyte with the same CLA mix concentration gradient for 8 days with adipogenic differentiation medium. We found that Alkaline phosphatase (ALP), runt-related transcription factor 2 (RUNX2) and osteocalcin (OCN) expressions of pre-osteoblasts were up-regulated. Moreover in presence of CLA, peroxisome proliferators-activated receptor γ(PPARγ) and CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein (C/EBPα) were down-regulated. Osteoporosis mice bone parameters in the distal femoral meraphysis were significantly increased compared with placebo mice. Furthermore, the phosphor-S6 (P-S6) was suppressed and phosphor-AKT (P-AKT) was up-regulated. Consistently, CLA can stimulate differentiation of osteoblasts and inhibited pre-adipocytes differentiated into adipocytes via AKT/mTORC1 signal pathway. Overall CLA thus be a suitable candidate for the treatment of patients with postmenopausal osteoporosis and obesity.