Stimulatory effect of menaquinone-7 on bone formation in elderly female rat femoral tissues in vitro: prevention of bone deterioration with aging.

Menaquinone-7 (MK-7) is vitamin K2 which is a series of vitamins with multiisoprene units at the 3-position of the naphthoquinone. MK-7 has been shown to prevent bone loss in ovariectomized rats, an animal model for osteoporosis. This study was undertaken to determine whether MK-7 has a stimulatory effect on bone components of elderly female rats in vitro. The femoral-diaphyseal and -metaphyseal tissues obtained from young (4 weeks old) or elderly (50 weeks old) female rats were cultured for 48 h in a Dullbecco's modified Eagle's medium (high glucose, 4.5%) supplemented with antibiotics and bovine serum albumin. Calcium content, alkaline phosphatase activity and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) in the diaphyseal and metaphyseal tissues obtained from elderly rats were significantly decreased as compared with those of young rats, indicating that aging causes a deterioration of bone formation. The presence of MK-7 (10(-6) or 10(-5) M) caused a significant increase in biochemical components in the femoral-diaphyseal and -metaphyseal tissues obtained from elderly rat in vitro. The anabolic effect of MK-7 (10(-6) or 10(-5) M) on the femoral calcium content was significantly enhanced in the presence of phytoestrogen genistein (10(-6) or 10(-5) M), suggesting that the mode of action of MK-7 differ from that of genistein. The effect of MK-7 (10(-5) M) in increasing calcium content, alkaline phosphatase activity and DNA content in the diaphyseal and metaphyseal tissues was completely abolished in the presence of cycloheximide (10(-6) M), an inhibitor of protein synthesis in vitro. These findings demonstrate that MK-7 has a stimulatory effect on bone formation in the femoral tissues of elderly female rats in vitro. MK-7 may have a preventive role for bone deterioration with aging.