Study Of Epimedium -containing Serum On The Growth And Development Of The Femur Of Neonatal SD Rat

Objective To explore the effect and mechanisms of Epimedium on bone formation. Methods Epimedium-containing serum was made by the seropharmacology of the traditional Chinese medicine. Femur in neonatal SD rat were organ culture in Epimedium-containing serum and normal serum and applied to detect the Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity, bone mineral density (BMD), the expression of transforming growth factor-beta (TGF- β ) and PCNA. Results The BMD of Epimedium-containing serum group was significantly higher than that in the calf serum group (P < 0.05). The ALP activity of high-dose and low-dose of Epimedium-containing serum groups are higher than those of the calf serum group (P < 0.01). The markedly expression of TGF- β was observed following the treatment with the Epimedium-containing serum . We found that Epimedium-containing serum can induce the expression of PCNA in osteoblast within 5 days. After the fifth day the PCNA expression of the Epimedium-containing serumgroup was beginning to decrease. While at the same time, the expression of TGF- P 1 was still at a high level. There were no significant differences in the expression of all indications between the Epimedium-containing serum group and the normal growth group. Conclusion These data suggest that Epimedium-containing serum have influence on proliferation and differentiation of osteoblasts, and may have important implications for the understanding of the effect of Epimedium on bone formation. The mechanism of this effect might be through activating the signal transducting system of TGF- P 1 receptors at an early stage.