Abstract
Purpose: To investigate the therapeutic effect of Rhizoma Drynariae extract (RDE) on ovariectomyinduced osteoporosis in rats.Methods: Female Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to a sham-operated group (control) and five ovariectomy (OVX) subgroups: OVX with vehicle (OVX), OVX with 17ß-estradiol (E2, 25 μg/kg/day), and OVX with RDE doses (40, 80, and 160 mg/kg/day). Daily oral administration of E2 or RDE started 4 weeks after OVX and lasted for 16 weeks. The bone mineral density (BMD) of the L4 vertebrae and right femurs was estimated. The length of each femur was measured with a micrometer gauge, and the center of the diaphysis determined. Three representatives L4 vertebrae were selected to evaluate the trabecular microarchitecture. Serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP), urinary calcium (U-Ca),urinary phosphorus (U-P), urinary creatinine (Cr) and osteocalcin (OC) levels were measured.Results: The study showed that high-dose of RDE significantly inhibited the bone mineral density (BMD) reduction of L4 vertebrae (0.20 ± 0.02 g/cm3, p < 0.05) and femurs (0.18 ± 0.02 g/cm3, p < 0.05) caused by OVX and prevented the deterioration of trabecular microarchitecture (p < 0.05), which were accompanied by a significant decrease in skeletal remodeling (p < 0.05) as evidenced by the lowerlevels of bone turnover markers. High-dose of RDE improved morphometric parameters, namely, Tb-N (3.8 ± 0.2 mm, p < 0.05), Tb-Th (0.083 ± 0.011 mm, p < 0.05) and Tb-Sp (0.19 ± 0.01 mm, p < 0.05) in L4 vertebrae significantly. The present study indicates that the administration of RDE at higher doses over a 16-week period can prevent OVX-induced osteoporosis in rats without hyperplastic effects on the uterus.Conclusion: Thus, RDE is a potential natural alternative for postmenopausal osteoporosis treatment in elderly women.Keywords: Rhizoma Drynariae, Postmenopausal osteoporosis, Ovariectomy, Bone mineral density, Morphometric
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)
Analysis of the representative samples (Table 3) The high incidence, serious complications, indicated that OVX resulted in the deterioration of financial burden, and dramatically decreased the trabecular bone microarchitecture, as living quality indicate the severity of osteoporosis demonstrated by the reduced trabecular number (Tb-N) and trabecular thickness (Tb-Th) compared with the sham group
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]. The incidence of osteoporosis increases dramatically with life expectancy. The risk of osteoporotic fractures and their associated costs is rising rapidly due to population aging [3]. Hormone deficiency is known to impair cancellous metaphyseal bone and reduce BMD in humans and animals; 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 life time [7]
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