Luo Yunyun, Zheng Shuang, Ding Yujia, Dai Yueqin, Zhou Yi, Xiang Ruifeng, Bay-Jensen Anne C, Karsdal Morten A, Qvist Per, Zheng Qinlong
Nordic Bioscience (Beijing) Ltd.Beijing, China.
Nordic Bioscience A/SHerlev, Denmark.
Am J Transl Res. 2017 Jul 15;9(7):3517-3527. eCollection 2017.
The clinical utility of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) herbs/roots extracts in osteoporosis (OP) and osteoarthritis (OA) has been described in multiple reports, but there have been few studies of TCM for preventing bone loss and cartilage degradation simultaneously. Six-month-old female Sprague-Dawley rats each were subjected to ovariectomized (OVX) or sham surgery and treated orally once daily with herbal extracts or vehicle. Body weight was recorded weekly, and blood samples were collected from fasting animals at different time points. Biochemical markers of bone resorption and cartilage degradation were analyzed. Changes in bone mineral density and calcium content were determined in the femoral center and femoral telocentric end of rats. Out of 56 TCM herbs/roots extracts, only kudzu root demonstrated consistent joint protective effects. OVX resulted in a marked increase in bone resorption and cartilage degradation, which could be significantly reversed by kudzu after three weeks of treatment. Compared to vehicle, kudzu induced a significant increase in bone mineral density in the femoral center and femoral telocentric end, and calcium content. The results show that kudzu exerts direct effects on articular cartilage in the OVX rat and can effectively prevent the acceleration of cartilage degradation induced by ovariectomy. Moreover, kudzu has demonstrated positive effects on metabolic health (cause a weight reduction) and may represent a possible treatment for OP and OA with high body mass index. Further studies are needed to investigate the potential effects of kudzu root in postmenopausal women.
中药草药/根茎提取物在骨质疏松症（OP）和骨关节炎（OA）中的临床应用已在多篇报道中有所描述，但很少有关于中药同时预防骨质流失和软骨降解的研究。将6月龄雌性Sprague-Dawley大鼠分别进行卵巢切除（OVX）手术或假手术，并每天口服一次草药提取物或赋形剂。每周记录体重，并在不同时间点从禁食动物身上采集血样。分析骨吸收和软骨降解的生化标志物。测定大鼠股骨中心和股骨远心端的骨矿物质密度和钙含量变化。在56种中药草药/根茎提取物中，只有葛根表现出持续的关节保护作用。卵巢切除导致骨吸收和软骨降解显著增加，葛根治疗三周后可显著逆转这种情况。与赋形剂相比，葛根可使股骨中心和股骨远心端的骨矿物质密度以及钙含量显著增加。结果表明，葛根对去卵巢大鼠的关节软骨有直接作用，可有效预防卵巢切除引起的软骨降解加速。此外，葛根已显示出对代谢健康的积极影响（导致体重减轻），可能是治疗高体重指数的骨质疏松症和骨关节炎的一种潜在疗法。需要进一步研究来调查葛根对绝经后妇女的潜在影响。
