ABSTRACT
The therapeutic effects and mechanisms of traditional Chinese kidney-tonifying drugs in treating osteoporosis have become the focus under study. Pharmacological studies have shown that traditional Chinese kidney-tonifying drugs are promoters for the proliferation of osteoblasts, inhibitors for the activity of osteoclasts, regulators for the estrogen level and its receptor, plays important roles in promoting osteogenesis and suppressing adipogenesis of marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), modulating the function of OPG/RANK/RANKL system and the metabolism of calcium and phosphorus, as well as antioxidation. The anti-osteoporotic active ingredients and pharmacological action mechanism of traditional Chinese kidney-tonifying drugs are summarized from the perspective of molecular and cell biology in this paper, so as to provide references for the study of their mechanism of anti-osteoporosis and for the development of traditional Chinese kidney-tonifying and bone-strengthening drugs.