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Flavonoids of Herba Epimedii and Bone Metabolism in Experimental Ovarian Deficiency

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Nutrition and Diet in Menopause

Part of the book series: Nutrition and Health ((NH))

Key Points

  • Flavonoids of Herba Epimedii could preserve bone health in OVX rodents, including bone histomorphology, micro-structure and bone mass.

  • BMP signaling and Wnt signaling pathways are found to be involved in mediating the actions of total flavonoids and icariin in bone cells.

  • TF inhibits osteoclast formation by increasing ratio of OPG/RANKL and stimulates bone formation by enhancing Cbfa1 expression.

  • Icariin exhibits selective estrogen-like activity, but did not induce uterotrophic effects in vivo.

  • Icariin stimulates ERα phosphorylation at Ser118 in a ligand-independent manner without activating ERE-luciferase activity in UMR 106 cells, via the ERα or the ERβ-mediated pathway.

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Abbreviations

Tb.Sp:

Trabecular separation

Tb.Th:

Trabecular thickness

Tb.N:

Trabecular number

SMI:

Structure model index

BV/TV:

Bone volume/tissue volume

Ct.Th:

Cortical thickness

OS/BS:

Osteoid surface

MAR:

Mineral apposition rate

BFR/BS:

Bone formation rate with bone surface as referent

BFR/BV:

Bone formation rate with bone volume as referent

BMD:

Bone mineral density

SSI:

Stress–strain index

OCN:

Osteocalcin

BMP:

Bone morphogenetic protein

Cbfa1:

Core binding factor 1

ER:

Estrogen receptor

SAP:

Sialoprotein

OPG:

Osteoprotegerin

RANKL:

Receptor activator of nuclear factor-κB ligand

HRT:

Hormone replacement therapy

TCM:

Traditional Chinese medicine

TF:

Total flavonoids

SRAT:

Serum of rats administered TF

ALP:

Alkaline phosphatase

BGP:

Bone gla protein

ICA:

Icariin

EPFs:

Epimedium-derived phytoestrogen flavonoids

HEP:

Herba epimedii

BM-MSCs:

Bone marrow-mesenchymal stem cells

OVX:

Ovariectomized

DPD:

Deoxypyridinoline

M-CSF:

Macrophage colony-stimulating factor

Ca:

Calcium

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Acknowledgments

This work was partially supported by Hong Kong Scholars Program (XJ2011022) and China Postdoctoral Science Foundation funded project (2012M511115) for Yan Zhang.

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Correspondence to Man-Sau Wong Ph.D. .

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Wong, MS., Zhang, Y. (2013). Flavonoids of Herba Epimedii and Bone Metabolism in Experimental Ovarian Deficiency. In: Hollins Martin, C., Watson, R., Preedy, V. (eds) Nutrition and Diet in Menopause. Nutrition and Health. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-62703-373-2_32

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-62703-373-2_32

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