Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Tongji Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200065, China.
Department of Orthopedics, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430022, Hubei, China.
Aging (Albany NY). 2020 May 7;12(9):8191-8201. doi: 10.18632/aging.103133.
Osteoporosis is a common metabolic bone disease that affects about 40% of postmenopausal women. Treatment options for osteoporosis are limited, however. Icariin is an herbal substance that has been shown to improve bone mass, but the mechanisms are largely unknown. Using bioinformatics analysis, we have identified the hub genes and KEGG pathways shared between icariin-targeted genes and osteoporosis. The top five shared KEGG pathways were the Toll-like receptor signaling pathway, adipocytokine pathway, neurotrophin signaling pathway, NOD-like receptor signaling, and B cell receptor signaling pathway; the hub genes were RELA, NFKBIA, and IKBKB, belonging to the NF-κB family. The identified icariin-targeted genes are involved in inflammation, insulin resistance, apoptosis, and immune responses, and regulate the PI3K-Akt, NF-κB, MAPK, and JNK signaling pathways. Our data show that icariin inhibits apoptosis in human mesenchymal stem cells by suppressing JNK/c-Jun signaling pathway. Together, these findings indicate that icariin exerts its anti-osteoporotic function by inhibiting JNK/c-Jun signaling pathway, and suggest that icariin may be a promising treatment option for osteoporosis.
骨质疏松症是一种常见的代谢性骨病，影响约 40%的绝经后妇女。然而，骨质疏松症的治疗选择有限。淫羊藿素是一种草药物质，已被证明可以增加骨量，但机制在很大程度上尚不清楚。使用生物信息学分析，我们已经确定了淫羊藿素靶向基因和骨质疏松症之间共享的枢纽基因和 KEGG 途径。前五个共享的 KEGG 途径是 Toll 样受体信号通路、脂肪细胞因子通路、神经生长因子信号通路、NOD 样受体信号通路和 B 细胞受体信号通路；枢纽基因是 RELA、NFKBIA 和 IKBKB，属于 NF-κB 家族。鉴定出的淫羊藿素靶向基因参与炎症、胰岛素抵抗、细胞凋亡和免疫反应，并调节 PI3K-Akt、NF-κB、MAPK 和 JNK 信号通路。我们的数据表明，淫羊藿素通过抑制 JNK/c-Jun 信号通路抑制人骨髓间充质干细胞的凋亡。综上所述，这些发现表明淫羊藿素通过抑制 JNK/c-Jun 信号通路发挥其抗骨质疏松作用，并表明淫羊藿素可能是骨质疏松症的一种有前途的治疗选择。
