Sunflower seed extract enhances the differentiation of osteoblastic MC3T3-E1 cells

Osteoporosis is recognised as one of the major hormonal deficiency diseases, especially in menopausal women and the elderly. The present study investigated whether treatment with sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) seed extract (SSE) may affect the function of MC3T3-E1 osteogenic cells. In order to determine the growth and differentiation of osteoblast, MTT (3-(4,5-dimethyl-thiazol-2yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide) assay, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity, collagen synthesis and osteocalcin secretion were performed. Also, the production of tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and nitric oxide (NO) in osteoblastic MC3T3-E1 cells was measured. SSE significantly (p<0.05) increased cell growth, ALP activity, collagen content and osteocalcin secretion compared with control. The effect of SSE (50 µg/ml) in increasing cell growth, ALP activity and collagen content was prevented by the presence of 10^?6 M cycloheximide and 10^?6 M ICI182780, suggesting that SSE's effect results from a newly synthesised protein component and might be partly involved in oestrogen action. Treatment with SSE (10 and 50 µg/ml) decreased the 5 µg/ml lipopolysaccharide-induced production of TNF-α, IL-6 and NO in osteoblasts. Our data indicate that the enhancement of osteoblast function by sunflower seed may result in the prevention for osteoporosis and inflammatory bone diseases.