Mechanism of Bushen Huatan Prescription in Regulation of Osteogenesis and Adipogenic Differentiation and Improvement of Postmenopausal Bone Loss in Ovariectomized Rats with Osteoporosis / 中国实验方剂学杂志

ABSTRACT

ObjectiveTo explore the underlying mechanism of Bushen Huatan prescription in alleviating postmenopausal osteoporosis （PMOP） by maintaining the balance of osteogenesis and adipogenic differentiation in ovariectomized rats with osteoporosis. MethodSeventy-five 6-month-old non-pregnant female SD rats were randomly divided into sham-operation group， model group， atorvastatin group， liviol group， and Bushen Huatan prescription group. Bilateral ovaries were removed in the four groups except the sham-operation group， while only the same mass of adipose tissue around the ovaries was removed in the sham-operation group. On the 5th week after surgery， drugs were consecutively administrated for 8 weeks. Rats in the Bushen Huatan prescription group received 9.4 mg·kg-1 of the prescription， rats in the atorvastatin group received 0.92 mg·kg-1 of atorvastatin， rats in the Liviol group received 0.23 mg·kg-1 of liviol， and rats in the model group and the sham-operation group received saline once a day. Micro-computed tomography （Micro CT） was used to detect bone mineral density （BMD） of rat tibia in each group. Hematoxylin-eosin （HE） staining was used to detect the relative area of rat bone marrow adipose tissue （BMAT） in each group. Real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction （Real-time PCR） and Western blot were used to detect the relative expression levels of Runt-related transcription factor 2 （Runx2）， peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor （PPARγ）， leptin （LPN）， and leptin receptor （OBR） in bone tissues. ResultAs compared with the sham operation group， the BMD of rats in the model group decreased （P<0.05）， while the relative area of BMAT increased （P<0.05）. In addition， the expression levels of LPN， OBR， and Runx2 decreased in the model group （P<0.05）， while the level of PPARγ increased （P<0.05）. As compared with the model group， the BMD of rats in the atorvastatin group， the Livial group， and the Bushen Huatan prescription group increased （P<0.05）， and the relative area of BMAT decreased （P<0.05）. The expression levels of LPN， OBR， and Runx2 in these groups increased （P<0.05）， while the expression level of PPARγ decreased （P<0.05）. ConclusionBushen Huatan prescription plays the anti-osteoporosis role in the rat model of PMOP through up-regulating LPN and OBR in bone tissues and maintaining the balance of osteogenesis and adipogenic differentiation， thereby reducing postmenopausal bone loss and playing a role in the prevention and treatment of PMOP.