Fructus Ligustri Lucidi preserves bone quality through induction of canonical Wnt/β‐catenin signaling pathway in ovariectomized rats

Abstract

Fructus Ligustri Lucidi (FLL) has been preclinically and clinically used to treat musculoskeletal diseases. However, whether and how FLL affect the canonical Wnt/β‐catenin signaling in the management of osteoporosis remains largely unknown. To this end, ovariectomized (OVX) rats and primary osteoblasts were administrated with FLL aqueous extract and medicated serum, respectively. Supplement of FLL to OVX rats maintains bone quality by attenuating the reduction in bone mineral density, strength and microstructure. The maintenance may be associated with upregulating the expression of insulin‐like growth factor‐1, osteoprotegerin, phospho (p)‐low‐density lipoprotein receptor‐related protein 6, p‐glycogen synthase kinase 3 beta (GSK3β), β‐catenin, Runx2 and c‐Myc, and downregulating the expressions of sclerostin (SOST), dickkopf‐related protein 1 (DKK1), GSK3β and p‐β‐catenin in rat femurs and tibias. In addition, the medicated serum promotes osteoblastic bone formation through activation of Wnt/β‐catenin signaling via inhibition of DKK1 and SOST overexpression. Salidroside may be one of the active ingredients in FLL that are beneficial for bone homeostasis. In summary, our results suggest that FLL may preserve bone quality through induction of canonical Wnt/β‐catenin signaling via inhibition of DKK1 and SOST overexpression. And FLL may offer a new source of the DKK1 or SOST inhibitors in protection against osteoporosis.

Eurycomanone stimulates bone mineralization in zebrafish larvae and promotes osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells by upregulating AKT/GSK-3β/β-catenin signaling

“…Natural products from plants are active ingredients with a variety of pharmacological effects, which are performed to prevent and treat various diseases [ 36 ]. At present, various studies have proved that plant drugs have active anti-osteoporosis effects, such as Cistanche deserticola (total glycosides and polysaccharides) [ 37 ], Astragalus [ 38 ], Hibicus syriacus L. [ 39 ], Piper betleleaves [ 40 ] and Fructus Ligustri Lucidi [ 41 ]. Hence, seeking novel bone formation drugs through natural products represents a promising treatment strategy of OP in clinical, since whom are multi-component, more safety and possess extensive targets.…”

A review of botany, phytochemistry, pharmacology, and applications of the herb with the homology of medicine and food: Ligustrum lucidum W.T. Aiton

“…As a major class of chemical components in L. lucidum , these compounds have various biological activity. They have been demonstrated to prevent and treat many types of ailments such as pain, inflammation, hyperlipidemic, and hepatotoxicity as well as vision improvement effects ( Liu H. et al, 2020 ; Wu et al, 2021 ). Specnuezhenide 7 , one of the most abundant components and its content used as the criteria to evaluate the quality of this crude herb, has been proven to possess strong biological effects, including regulating immunity, antivirus, anti-oxidation, and hepatoprotective activities.…”

New Advances in Improving Bone Health Based on Specific Gut Microbiota

“…Fructus Ligustri Lucidi (FLL) is believed to have antioxidant, anti-ageing, and osteoprotective functions and is used to prevent and treat osteoporosis ( Chen et al., 2017a ; Liu et al., 2021 ). Whether this effect is related to the diversity and composition of the gut microbiota was investigated in an animal study.…”