Abstract
Purpose: To investigate the effect of Caulis lonicerae Japonicae extract (CLJE) on ovariectomyinduced osteoporosis in rats.Methods: Female Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to a control group (normal rats) and five ovariectomy (OVX) subgroups: OVX with vehicle (OVX), OVX with 17ß-estradiol (E2, 25μg/kg/day), and OVX with CLJE doses (150, 300, and 600 mg/kg/day). Daily oral administration of E2 or CLJE started 4 weeks after OVX and lasted for 16 weeks. The bone mineral density (BMD) of L4 vertebrae and right femurs was determined. The length of each femur was measured with a micrometer, and the center of the diaphysis was determined. Three representative L4 vertebrae were selected to evaluate trabecular microarchitecture. Serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP), urinary calcium (U-Ca), urinary phosphorus (U-P), urinary creatinine (Cr) and osteocalcin (OC) levels were measured using a diagnostic reagent kit.Result: The results show that a high-dose of CLJE (600 mg/kg) significantly inhibited bone mineral density (BMD) reduction of L4 vertebrae (0.24 ± 0.02, p < 0.05) and femur (0.24 ± 0.03, p < 0.05) caused by OVX, and prevented the deterioration of trabecular microarchitecture (p < 0.05). High-dose CLJE also improved morphometric parameters, viz, trabecular number (Tb-N) (4.6 ± 0.3, p < 0.05), trabecular thickness (Tb-Th, 0.084 ± 0.012, p < 0.05) and trabecular separation (Tb-Sp, 0.14 ± 0.02, p < 0.05) in L4 vertebrae significantly.Conclusion: The results indicate that CLJE prevents OVX-induced osteoporosis in rats. Thus, CLJE is a potential natural alternative for the treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis in future.Keywords: Caulis Lonicerae Japonicae, Post-menopausal osteoporosis, Ovariectomy, Bone mineral density, Trabecular microarchitecture, Diaphysis
Highlights
Osteoporosis is a systemic skeletal disease characterized by reduced bone mass and microarchitectural deterioration of bone tissue with a consequent increase in bone fragility and susceptibility to fractures [1]
These results demonstrate that OVX significantly decreased the bone mineral density (BMD) in the L4 vertebrae and femurs compared to the sham group (p < 0.05)
E2 significantly increased the BMD of the L4 vertebrae and femurs, which was similar to that observed in the H-Caulis lonicerae Japonicae extract (CLJE) group (p > 0.05)
Summary
Osteoporosis is a systemic skeletal disease characterized by reduced bone mass and microarchitectural deterioration of bone tissue with a consequent increase in bone fragility and susceptibility to fractures [1]. According to data released by the World Health Organization (WHO), osteoporosis affects approximately a million people throughout Europe, the USA, and. The incidence of osteoporosis increases dramatically with life expectancy. The risk of osteoporotic fractures and their associated costs is rising rapidly due to aging population [3]. Estrogen deficiency in post-menopausal women has been regarded as a critical cause of this population’s susceptibility to osteoporosis [5]. Osteoporosis is twice as common in women as in men [6], and approximately one in three women over 50 years old experiences an osteoporotic fracture in her lifetime [7]
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