Objective The present study aims to investigate the potential effects of liver fibrosis on bone microstructure in mice with nonalcoholic fatty liver (NAFLD) disease and the therapeutic effect of curcumin. Methods Six-week-old wild-type C57BL/6 female mice were randomly assigned to three groups: wild-type C57BL/6 mice control group (WT group, n=10), wild-type C57BL/6 mice with a HFD (HFD group, n=10) and HFD with curcumin (HFD+Cur group, n=10). The control group was fed with normal diet, the high-fat diet group was fed with high-fat diet, and the curcumin treatment group was treated with curcumin at 24 weeks. Mice in each group were sacrifced at 32 weeks and serum biomarkers and the cytokines TNF-α, IL-6, IGF-1, and IGFBP-1 were determined, hematoxylin and eosin staining of liver sections revealed hepatic steatosis, and micro-CT scans were made of the proximal tibia. Results Compared with the WT group, the AST, IL-6 and TNF-α levels were significantly higher in the HDF group (P<0.05), while the differences of weight, TC, ALT, IGF-1, IGFBP-1 were even greater (P<0.01). Meanwhile, the mouse in the HFD group liver tissue showed obvious fibrosis and the bone microstructure parameters of BV/TV, Tb.Th, Tb.N, Tb.Sp, Conn.D.mm-3, C.Th, vBMD, tBMD displayed a significantly differences compared with WT group (P<0.05 or P<0.01). After treatment with curcumin, except the IGF-1 level was significantly increased (P<0.05), the body weight of the mice and the serum levels of other indicators were significantly decreased (P<0.05), which was more similar to that of the WT group (P>0.05). Meanwhile, no obvious liver fibrosis were observed in liver pathology, and there were significantly increases in trabecular bone mass of the metaphysis as well as clearly improved BMD (P<0.05 or P<0.01). Conclusion Significant bone loss can be observed in mice with nonalcoholic fatty liver fibrosis, and the changes of the TNF-α, IL-6, IGF-1, and IGFBP-1 levels may play critical roles in pathogenesis, among which IGF-1 and IGFBP-1 play a particularly important role. Curcumin, by regulating these cytokines, can reduce lipid accumulation and increase bone trabeculae, bone cortex and bone mineral density. |