Protective effect of Sika Deer bone polypeptide extract on dexamethasone-induced osteoporosis in rats

BACKGROUND: Osteoporosis attacks approximately 10% of the population worldwide. Sika Deer (Cervus nippon), one of China's precious traditional medicinal animals, has been widely recorded in ancient Chinese medical books and claimed for centuries to have numerous medical benefits including bone strengthening. This study aimed to find the use of Sika Deer bone in treating osteoporosis according to traditional records and to investigate the protective effect of Sika Deer bone polypeptide extract on glucocorticoidinduced osteoporosis (GIOP) in rats. RESULTS: Sika Deer bone polypeptide extract could increase serum Ca2+ and BGP, decrease serum P3+, ALP, PTH, and CT, but had no effect on serum NO in rats with GIOP. The immunohistochemical iNOS results of the rats' distal femur were negative in each group. Besides the model group, the eNOS color reaction in osteoblasts was strongly positive in the other three groups. CONCLUSIONS: Sika Deer bone polypeptide extract can improve pathological changes in the microstructure and stimulate the expression of eNOS in osteoblasts. The protective effect on bone might be mediated by eNOS-dependent NO generation.

Effect of deer bone polypeptides on bone microarchitecture of dexamethasone-induced osteoporosis rats / 中草药

Objective: To investigate the effect of deer bone polypeptides on bone microarchitecture of dexamethasone-induced osteoporosis (GIOP) rats. Methods: The rats were im given dexamethasone for establishing a rat GIOP model. The rats were ig given deer bone polypeptide with different doses for 75 d. The serum biochemical indexes were classic detection. The three-dimensional analysis of the trabecular structure of proximal tibia was conducted by microCT method; The pathological changes in the morphology of distal femur were observed by hematoxylin. Results: Deer bone polypeptides could increase serum Ca2+ and bone-gla-protein (BGP), decrease serum P3+, alkaline phorphatase (ALP), and parathyroid (PTH) in rats with GIOP. Deer bone polypeptide showed a tendency to reduce the serum CT in rats with GIOP, but the decreasing tendency was not statistically significant compared with the blank control group. The trabecula was thin and ruptured, its free ends increased, its number decreased, its spaces were widened, and the destructed space structures increased in rats with GIOP, while the intervention with deer bone polypeptides could significantly improve the above indexes to evaluate the bone microstructure. Conclusion: Deer bone polypeptides can inhibit the glucocorticoids-induced metabolism imbalance of calcium and phosphorus, reduce the serum ALP, increase the serum BGP, and inhibit the bone resorption and bone formation in rats with GIOP. Moreover, deer bone polypeptides can improve pathological changes in the microstructure and protect osteoporosis rats.