| RESEARCH PAPER |
|
| Year : 2007 | Volume
: 39
| Issue : 2 | Page : 103-106 |
In vivo and in vitro activity of genistein in osteoporosis
Jiepin Wang1, Fujun Shang2, Li Liu3, Siwang wang4, Jianbo Wang4, Qibing Mei3
1 Department of Pharmacology and Institute of Materia Medica, School of Pharmacy, Fourth Millitary Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, PR 710032, China
2 Department of Cardiology, Tangdu Hospital, Fourth Millitary Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, PR 710038, China
3 Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, Fourth Millitary Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, PR 710032, China
4 Institute of Materia Medica, School of Pharmacy, Fourth Millitary Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, PR China 710032, China
Correspondence Address:
Qibing Mei
Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, Fourth Millitary Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, PR 710032
China
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/0253-7613.32529
Background : Osteoporosis is conventionally treated with synthetic estrogens. However, the serious side effects of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) hampers the clinical use of estrogens. Hence, alternatives for estrogens are being explored, one of which is the isoflavone, genistein. Many studies show that genistein may exert positive effects on bone. However, there are also studies which report no overall association between genistein intake and bone marrow density (BMD) and fracture rates. The effect of genistein on bone loss is still controversial.
Aims : In this study, we evaluated both in vivo and in vitro pharmacological effects of genistein in osteoporosis.
Materials and Methods : MTT and ALP activity assays were performed to evaluate genistein's in vitro activity on MC3T3-E1 cells. The OVX rat model was used to test genistein's in vivo effects by determination of BMD and bone calcium and phosphorus content after treatment for 12 weeks.
Results and Conclusions : The data showed that 10 -6 M genistein both increased the number of MC3T3-E1 cells and elevated ALP activity significantly. In vivo, 9 or 18 mg/kg doses of genistein were found to prevent osteoporosis after 12 weeks treatment. Thus, our results indicated that genistein may be an alternative for HRT in prevention of postmenopausal osteoporosis.
[FULL TEXT] [PDF]*
|
