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Positive Effects of Qing’e Pill (青娥丸) on Trabecular Microarchitecture and its Mechanical Properties in Osteopenic Ovariectomised Mice

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Abstract

Objective

To investigate the impact of Qing’e Pill (青娥丸, QEP) on the cancellous bone microstructure and its effect on the level of β-catenin in a mouse model of postmenopausal osteoporosis.

Methods

Ninety-six 8-week-old specific pathogen free C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into 4 groups (24/group): sham, ovariectomised osteoporosis model, oestradiol-treated, and QEP-treated groups. Three months after surgery, the third lumbar vertebra and left femur of the animals were dissected and scanned using micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) to acquire three-dimensional (3D) parameters of their cancellous bone microstructure. The impact of ovariectomy, the effect of oestradiol and QEP intervention on cancellous bone microstructure, and the expression of β-catenin were evaluated.

Results

The oestradioland the QEP-treated groups exhibited a significant increase in the bone volume fraction, trabecular number, trabecular thickneßs, bone surface to bone volume ratio (BS/BV), and β-catenin expression compared with those of the model group (P <0.05). In contrast, the structure model index, trabecular separation, and BS/BV were significantly decreased compared with those of the ovariectomised osteoporosis model group (P <0.05). No differences were observed in the above parameters between animals of the QEP- and oestradiol-treated groups.

Conclusions

The increased β-catenin expression may be the mechanism underlying QEP’s improvement of the cancellous bone microstructure in ovariectomised mice. Our findings provide a scientific rationale for using QEP as a dietary supplement to prevent bone loss in postmenopausal women.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank XIA Xue for his expertise and assistance in performing the blood collection, and WANG Quan-shen for his technical assistance, both from Union Hospital of Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430022, China

    Bo Shuai, Rui Zhu, Yan-ping Yang, Lin Shen, Xiao-juan Xu, Chen Ma & Lin Lu

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  1. Bo Shuai
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  2. Rui Zhu
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  3. Yan-ping Yang
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  4. Lin Shen
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  5. Xiao-juan Xu
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yan-ping Yang.

Additional information

Supported by the Innovation Fund of Huazhong University of Science and Technology (No. 2013QN235) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 81403257, 81273907, 81102692, 81072493)

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Shuai, B., Zhu, R., Yang, Yp. et al. Positive Effects of Qing’e Pill (青娥丸) on Trabecular Microarchitecture and its Mechanical Properties in Osteopenic Ovariectomised Mice. Chin. J. Integr. Med. 25, 270–277 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11655-016-2604-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11655-016-2604-0

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