Osteoporosis is a debilitating disorder that affects both female and male, albeit to a greater extent in women than men. As the demographic shift to a more aged population continues, a growing number of men and women will be afflicted with osteoporosis and a search for potential non-pharmacological alternative therapies for osteoporosis is of prime interest. Aside from existing drug therapies, certain lifestyle and nutritional factors are known to reduce the risk of osteoporosis. Among nutritional factors, recent observations suggest that dried plum, or prunes (Prunus domestica L.) is the most effective fruit in both preventing and reversing bone loss. Animal studies and a 3-month clinical trial conducted in our laboratories have shown that dried plum has positive effects on bone indices. The animal data indicate that dried plum not only protects against but more importantly reverses bone loss in two separate models of osteopenia. Our initial animal study indicated that dried plum prevented the ovariectomy-induced reduction in bone mineral density (BMD) of the femur and lumbar vertebra. In another study, to mimic established osteoporosis, rats were ovariectomized and allowed to lose bone before the initiation of treatment. Dried plum as low as 5% (w/w) restored BMD to the level of intact rats. More importantly, dried plum reversed the loss of trabecular architectural properties such as trabecular number and connectivity density, and trabecular separation. We have also shown the effectiveness of dried plum in reversal of bone loss due to skeletal unloading. Analysis of BMD and trabecular bone structure by microcomputed tomography (μCT) revealed that dried plum enhanced bone recovery during re-ambulation following skeletal unloading and had comparable effects to parathyroid hormone. In addition to the animal studies, our 3-month clinical trial indicated that the consumption of dried plum daily by postmenopausal women significantly increased serum markers of bone formation, total alkaline phosphatase, bone-specific alkaline phosphatase and insulin-like growth factor-I by 12, 6, and 17%, respectively. This review summarizes the findings of studies published to date which examine the beneficial effects of dried plum on bone in both female and male animal models of osteoporosis as well as the only published clinical study.

骨质疏松症是一种使人衰弱的疾病，影响女性和男性，尽管女性比男性更大。随着人口向老年人口的转移继续，越来越多的男性和女性将遭受骨质疏松症的困扰，寻找潜在的非药物替代性骨质疏松疗法的方法引起了人们的极大兴趣。除了现有的药物疗法，已知某些生活方式和营养因素还可以降低骨质疏松症的风险。在营养因素中，最近的观察表明，梅干或梅干（李属）L.）是预防和逆转骨质流失最有效的水果。在我们实验室进行的动物研究和为期3个月的临床试验表明，梅干对骨骼指数具有积极作用。动物数据表明，在两种不同的骨质疏松症模型中，干李子不仅可以预防骨质流失，而且更重要的是可以逆转骨质流失。我们最初的动物研究表明，干李子可以防止卵巢切除术导致股骨和腰椎骨矿物质密度（BMD）降低。在另一项研究中，为模仿既定的骨质疏松症，将大鼠切除卵巢，并在开始治疗前使其失去骨骼。低至5％（w / w）的梅干可将BMD恢复至完整大鼠的水平。更重要的是，干李子扭转了小梁建筑特性的丧失，如小梁数量和连接密度以及小梁分离。我们还显示了梅干对扭转因骨骼卸载引起的骨质流失的有效性。通过微计算机断层扫描（μCT）分析BMD和小梁骨结构，发现干李子可在骨骼卸载后的再造过程中增强骨的恢复，并且具有与甲状旁腺激素相当的作用。除动物研究外，我们为期3个月的临床试验表明，绝经后妇女每天食用干李子可显着增加血清中骨形成，总碱性磷酸酶，骨特异性碱性磷酸酶和胰岛素样生长因子-I的血清标志物。分别为12％，6％和17％。