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Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Litsea cubeba (Lour.) Pers. has been traditionally used as a folk prescription for treating rheumatic diseases in China., Aim of the Study: This study aimed to investigate the effects and underlying mechanism of LCA, a new type of dibenzyl butane lignin compound extracted from L. cubeba, on macrophage colony stimulating factor (M-CSF) plus receptor activator of NF-κB ligand (RANKL)-induced osteoclast differentiation in mouse-derived bone marrow macrophages (BMMs)., Material and Methods: TRAP staining, TRAP enzyme activity assay and actin ring staining were applied to identify the effects of LCA on osteoclast differentiation. Protein expression of NFATc1, c-Fos and MMP-9, and phosphorylation of p65, Akt, JNK, ERK and p38 in RANKL-induced osteoclasts was determined using western blotting to investigate the underlying mechanism., Results: LCA significantly suppressed RANKL-induced osteoclast differentiation by inhibiting TRAP activity, decreasing the number of TRAP + multinuclear osteoclasts and reducing the formation of F-actin ring without obvious cytotoxicity in BMMs. Moreover, LCA treatment strongly reduced protein expression of NFATc1, c-Fos and MMP-9, and attenuated the phosphorylation of p65, Akt, JNK, ERK and p38 in RANKL-stimulated BMMs., Conclusions: LCA ameliorated RANKL-induced osteoclast differentiation via inhibition of Akt and MAPK signalings in BMMs, and may serve as a potential pro-drug for bone destruction prevention., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)