Beneficial Effects of Ajuga decumbens on Osteoporosis and Arthritis

Abstract

Ajuga decumbens is a naturally occurring herb in Japan and China. The whole flowering plant of A. decumbens has been used in treatment of hypertension, hemoptysis, carbuncles and joint pain, etc.1,2) Many compounds have been isolated and identified from the whole plant, A. decumbens, [3][4][5][6][7] several of which show anti-tumor activity. 8) Recently, the number of cases of age related illnesses, e.g. osteoporosis and osteoarthritis have been trending upwards. These illnesses seriously affect people's daily lives because bones and joints play an important role in supporting the body during everyday movement.Collagen is one of the important bone and joint composition, and decreases naturally with age. Calcium resorption is caused by this effect. It was reported that A. decumbens upregulates the synthesis of collagen in false aged model rats. 9)Accordingly, we focused on the effects of A. decumbens on bone and joint disease.Post-menopausal osteoporosis is a metabolic bone disease characterized by a decrease of bone mass after menopause. 10)Many factors contribute to the development and maintenance of skeletal mass before and after menopause. 11,12) In fact, bone mass is the end result of a dynamic and complex process called remodeling. This process is characterized by a balance between osteoclast bone resorption and osteoblast bone formation. Estrogen is one of the factors that regulates bone metabolism, therefore, estrogen depletion after menopause causes an imbalance between bone resorption and bone formation.11) In addition, it is reported that NO, synthesized by iNOS, is related to the imbalance between osteoclast bone resorption and osteoblast bone formation. [13][14][15] It is widely known that NO is involved in a diverse array of physiological processes. Furthermore, NO, especially synthesized by iNOS, is related to inflammatory diseases like osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.14,16) Based on this knowledge, we hypothesized that the inhibition or down-regulation of NO production by iNOS would provide a new form of treatment for the prevention of inflammatory bone diseases and bone metabolic disease. MATERIALS AND METHODS AnimalsEight to ten-week-old female ddY mice and eight-week-old male LEW/SsN rats were obtained from SLC (Shizuoka, Japan). The mice and rats were housed under a 12 h/12 h light/dark cycle in a temperature and humidity-controlled room. They were allowed food and water ad libitum. After a week to adapt to the lighting conditions, healthy animals were used in a variety of experiments. All experimental procedures were approved by the Committee for Ethics and Animal Experimentation, Matsuura Yakugyo Co., Ltd. Preparation of Plant ExtractsThe whole plant A. decumbens (200 g) was grown in China and a voucher specimen (HS050601) was placed in our laboratory. The dried A. decumbens was refluxed with 70% aqueous ethanol for 30 min. The alcoholic extract was then concentrated to 50 g. The concentrate was freeze-dried, finally producing 20 g (i.e., 10% yield) of a dark brown, A. decumbens extr...

Evaluation of the efficacy of Ajuga�decumbens extract supplement in individuals with knee discomfort associated with physical activity: A randomized, double‑blind, placebo‑controlled study

“…In the ADE diet group, the levels of PIICP increased markedly at week 8 compared with the placebo group. ADE has been reported to promote the repair of damaged cartilage (8) and enhance the synthesis of collagen in false aged model rats (7). Based on these findings, ADE may have enhanced the synthesis of collagen, especially type II collagen, in the subjects involved in the present study, as evidenced by the increase of PIICP, which is a type II collagen synthesis marker.…”

“…Furthermore, the levels of MMP-13 were significantly reduced in both groups compared with the baseline; however the changes of MMP-13 levels from baseline were more substantially reduced at weeks 4, 8 and 12 in the ADE diet group compared with the placebo group, although the difference was not significant. It has been reported that MMP-13 may be induced by inflammatory cytokines (18), whereas ADE exhibits an anti-inflammatory action on an arthritis model (7). Therefore, the anti-inflammatory action of ADE may be associated with the suppression of MMP-13.…”

“…AD is a natural herb and has long been used as a medicine for pain relief in Japan (5,6). Notably, AD has been indicated to have an anti-inflammatory action in a rat arthritis model (7). Furthermore, AD promotes the osteoblastic differentiation of cultured osteoblasts (7) and the repair of articular cartilage and subchondral bone in a cartilage damaged model (8).…”

“…Notably, AD has been indicated to have an anti-inflammatory action in a rat arthritis model (7). Furthermore, AD promotes the osteoblastic differentiation of cultured osteoblasts (7) and the repair of articular cartilage and subchondral bone in a cartilage damaged model (8). However, these beneficial effects on the joint have not been studied in humans.…”

Phytochemical and biological properties of <i>ajuga decumbens</i> (labiatae): A review

“…Additionally, Ajuga has been used in Iranian traditional medicine for the treatment of joint pain, gout, and jaundice [7]. All plants of A. decumbens have been utilized as a kind of folk medicine for a long time in China and Japan owing to their antibacterial, antiinflammatory, antitumor and antiviral activities [8][9][10][11]. Many compounds whose structures have been characterized were isolated from A.…”