Sodium benzoate and bone loss in mice and cells
What it found
In mice, sodium benzoate gavage decreased bone mass and worsened bone structure, and in lab tests it blocked the bone-building activity of stem cells and preosteoblast cells.
The authors say long-term intake may increase the risk of bone loss and osteoporosis.
What they found
Animal and lab studies
Bone loss in mice
Mice given sodium benzoate by gavage had lower bone trabecular density and worse bone microstructure than control mice. Bone mineral density, bone volume, trabecular thickness, and trabecular number all decreased, while trabecular separation increased.
Longer treatment, more loss
Mice given sodium benzoate for 9 weeks had further decreases in bone trabecular density and more destruction of bone microstructure than mice given it for 6 weeks. When sodium benzoate was stopped after 6 weeks, bone loss did not get worse but also did not recover over the next 3 weeks.
Bone-building cells in lab
In lab tests, sodium benzoate reduced alkaline phosphatase activity and calcium nodule formation in both rat bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells and MC3T3-E1 cells, in a dose-dependent way. It also lowered the levels of RUNX2, OCN, and ALP, which are markers of bone-building cell differentiation.
p38 signaling blocked
Sodium benzoate lowered the phosphorylation of p38 in a dose-dependent way but did not change ERK1/2 or JNK phosphorylation. Adding anisomycin, a p38 activator, reversed the inhibitory effects of sodium benzoate on bone-building cell differentiation.
Studies in people and animals
FGF2 pathway
RNA sequencing showed that sodium benzoate strongly reduced the expression of FGF2 in both cell types. In mice, 6 weeks of sodium benzoate gavage also decreased FGF2 in the femur.
What the authors conclude
“The present study revealed that the long-term intake of NaB-containing food increased the risk of bone loss and osteoporosis (OP).”
Also in their conclusions
- They conclude that sodium benzoate accelerates bone loss by inhibiting osteoblast differentiation through downregulating the FGF2/p38/RUNX2 signaling pathway.
- They state that long-term intake of sodium benzoate-containing food increased the risk of bone loss and osteoporosis in their study.
- They advise that a reasonable oral intake of sodium benzoate-containing food is an important but convenient initiative for preventing osteoporosis.
How it was done
Sodium benzoate is a common food ingredient also found in cosmetics and medicines, and previous studies have shown that long-term intake can harm health. Its effects on bone mass were unknown, so the authors wanted to find out whether it plays a role in osteoporosis.
They gave sodium benzoate by gavage to female mice at 400 mg/kg every 2 days for up to 9 weeks and measured bone density and structure. They also treated rat bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells and MC3T3-E1 preosteoblast cells with sodium benzoate at 0, 5, or 10 mM during osteogenic induction, and used RNA sequencing to look for changes in gene activity.
What it can’t tell you
- The main bone-loss findings come from mice and lab-grown cells, so they cannot show what happens in people.
- The study did not test whether the same effects occur in people eating sodium benzoate in food.
- The authors note they do not yet know how sodium benzoate lowers FGF2 or which FGF2 receptor is involved.
Who paid
- Authors work at
- Jining Medical University, China; Affiliated Hospital of Jining Medical University, China
The paper
- Title
- Sodium Benzoate Inhibits Osteoblast Differentiation and Accelerates Bone Loss by Regulating the FGF2/p38/RUNX2 Pathway
- Type
- Study
- Evidence
- Studies in people · animals · lab
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Cite
- Wang Z, Wang Y, Tang Y, et al (2025). Sodium Benzoate Inhibits Osteoblast Differentiation and Accelerates Bone Loss by Regulating the FGF2/p38/RUNX2 Pathway. Journal of agricultural and food chemistry. doi:10.1021/acs.jafc.5c01124Free full textPubMed 40404584DOI
Summary written 26 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error