Abstract
Purpose: To investigate the effect of Dihuang Rougui Decoction (DRD) on ovariectomy-induced osteoporosis in rats.Methods: Female Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to a normal group (control) and five ovariectomy (OVX) subgroups: OVX with vehicle (OVX), OVX with positive control drug (alendronate sodium tablets, 1.6 mg/kg/week), and OVX + DRD (75, 150 or 300 mg/kg/day). After the rats were subjected to ovariectomy for 4 weeks, fosamax or DRD were administered daily (orally) for 16 weeks. The bone mineral density (BMD) of the L4 vertebrae and right femurs of the rats was evaluated. Serum hormones estradiol (E2), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) levels and serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP), osteocalcin (OC) and telopeptides of collagen type I (CTx) levels of the rats were determined. The bone tissue morphology of the rats was examined by microscopy.Results: The results show that DRD dose-dependently inhibited bone mineral density (BMD) reduction of L4 vertebrae and femurs (both p < 0.05). DRD significantly increased serum E2, FSH and LH levels (p < 0.05) in the osteoporotic rats, and significantly lowered serum ALP, CTx and OC concentrations, compared to OVX group (p < 0.01). Compared with OVX model group, bone trabeculae in all three DRD groups and nilestriol groups were wider, and the space and connections markedly increased. Furthermore, the medullary cavity reduced in size.Conclusion: These findings indicate that DRD mitigates OVX-induced osteoporosis in rats, and thus, the decoction has a potential for clinical management of osteoporosis patients.Keywords: Dihuang Rougui decoction, Osteoporosis, Ovariectomy, Bone mineral density, Serum bone marker, Bone tissue morphology
Highlights
Postmenopausal osteoporosis is a type of systemic bone disease characterized by a reduction in bone density, degradation of bone microstructure and an alteration in serum markers of bone metabolism, such as alkaline phosphatase (ALP), estradiol (E2) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) in postmenopausal females
According to data released by World Health Organization (WHO), osteoporosis affects approximately million people throughout Europe, USA, and Japan [2]
These results demonstrate that OVX significantly decreased bone mineral density (BMD) in the L4 vertebrae and femurs compared to the control group (p < 0.05)
Summary
Postmenopausal osteoporosis is a type of systemic bone disease characterized by a reduction in bone density, degradation of bone microstructure and an alteration in serum markers of bone metabolism, such as alkaline phosphatase (ALP), estradiol (E2) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) in postmenopausal females. Other medicines that stimulate bone formation (e.g., growth hormone, sodium uoride, and parathyroid hormone) or inhibit bone resorption (e.g., bisphosphonates and calcitonin) may prevent bone loss progression in established osteoporosis These drugs are not effective for a large proportion of the world population, especially in developing countries, and their drugs have side effects, such as gastrointestinal reactions, cancers, osteonecrosis of the jaw, and reduced skeletal strength [13,14]. Rat serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP), osteocalcin (OC) and telopeptides of collagen type I (CTx) levels were determined by ELISA method (provided by Nanjing built Biological Engineering Research Institute Co., Ltd. Nanjing, China). Differences were considered statistically significant at p < 0.05
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