Rosa roxburghii Tratt Juice Inhibits Fluoride Exposure-Induced Bone Damage in Male Rats by Regulating the Homeostasis of the ROS/TNF-α/NF-κB Pathway

Geochemical fluoride pollution is a global public health issue affecting a wide range and large population. The major health hazard from long-term fluoride exposure is skeletal fluorosis, a highly disabling and irreversible bone damage disease with no effective early interventions available to date. Given reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation is a key event in fluoride-induced bone damage, we established a sodium fluoride-exposed rat model. During the phase when fluoride induced ROS accumulation and mild bone damage in rat bone tissue, we administered Rosa roxburghii Tratt juice (RRTJ)—a natural food-medicinal homologous plant with antioxidant properties—to explore its intervention effect and potential mechanism against fluoride-induced bone damage. Results showed RRTJ inhibited fluoride-induced decreases in bone mineral density and trabecular number in male rats. Since enhanced bone resorption mediated by osteoclast overactivation is the initiating link of these fluoride-induced pathological changes, this study further found RRTJ suppressed fluoride-induced increases in osteoclast activity in male rat bone tissue, specifically reducing osteoclast numbers in bone tissue and lowering serum levels of bone resorption markers CTX and TRAP-5b. This effect is achieved by RRTJ scavenging fluoride-induced ROS accumulation in bone tissue, restoring ROS/TNF-α/NF-κB pathway homeostasis, and thereby inhibiting the overexpression of osteoclast activation-related genes tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase and cathepsin K. In conclusion, this study confirms RRT inhibits fluoride exposure-induced bone damage in male rats by regulating ROS/TNF-α/NF-κB pathway homeostasis. These findings provide new perspectives on the mechanism of fluoride-induced bone damage and, more importantly, reveal a potential novel intervention strategy.