Anti-osteoporotic effects of Yi Mai Jian on bone metabolism of ovariectomized rats

Bin Shi; Che-Chun Lin; Chia-Jung Lee; De-Shan Ning; Chao-Chi Lin; Hong-Wei Zhao; Chang-Syun Yang; Shun-Xin Deng; Yung-Jia Chiu; Ching-Chiung Wang

doi:10.3389/fphar.2024.1326415

Anti-osteoporotic effects of Yi Mai Jian on bone metabolism of ovariectomized rats

Front Pharmacol. 2024 Mar 28:15:1326415. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2024.1326415. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Bin Shi¹, Che-Chun Lin², Chia-Jung Lee^{2

3

4}, De-Shan Ning¹, Chao-Chi Lin⁵, Hong-Wei Zhao¹, Chang-Syun Yang⁵, Shun-Xin Deng², Yung-Jia Chiu⁵, Ching-Chiung Wang^{2

3

4

5}

Affiliations

¹ Infinitus (China) Company Ltd, Guangxhou, Guangdong, China.
² PhD Program for Clinical Drug Development of Herbal Medicine, College of Pharmacy, Taipei Medical University, Guangzhou, Taiwan.
³ Graduate Institute of Pharmacognosy, College of Pharmacy, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan.
⁴ Traditional Herbal Medicine Research Center, Taipei Medical University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
⁵ School of Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan.

Abstract

Yi Mai Jian herbal formula (YMJ) is formulated with Eucommiae Folium, Astragali Radix, Ligustri Lucidi Fructus, and Elaeagnus Fructus to improve bone function in traditional Chinese medicine. The anti-osteoporotic effects of YMJ in bone metabolism were evaluated in ovariectomized (OVX) rats. The skeletal structure of the femur and vertebrae was analyzed after treating OVX rats with YMJ for 114 days. The results showed that YMJ significantly increased the bone mineral density (BMD) and trabecular number (Tb. N) of the femur and 5th lumbar vertebrae and reduced trabecular separation (Tb. Sp). Moreover, trabecular bone volume/total tissue volume (BV/TV), bone stiffness, and maximum femur load were significantly increased. The serum concentrations of NTX1 and PYD were significantly decreased. According to these results, YMJ could ameliorate osteoporosis in ovariectomized rats. Eucommiae Folium and Elaeagnus Fructus inhibited osteoclast differentiation, Ligustri Lucidi Fructus inhibited calcium reabsorption, Astragali Radix stimulated osteoblast proliferation, and Astragali Radix and Eucommiae Folium stimulated mineralization. Therefore, the combination of the four herbs into one formula, YMJ, could alleviate bone remodeling caused by low estrogen levels. We suggest that YMJ could be a healthy food candidate for preventing post-menopausal osteoporosis.

Keywords: Astragali Radix; Elaeagnus Fructus; Eucommiae Folium; Ligustri Lucidi Fructus; Yi Mai Jian herbal formula; anti-osteoporotic effects.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare that financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This work was supported by grants from Herbiotek Co., Ltd. (Project code: A-107-021). The funder was not involved in the study design, collection, analysis, interpretation of data, the writing of this article, or the decision to submit it for publication.