BACKGROUND Osteoporotic fractures are common in postmenopausal women and associated with complications. Numerous studies have demonstrated that icariin can be used to treat fractures and osteoporosis. Herein, we evaluated the efficacy of gavage-administered icariin to promote fracture healing in postmenopausal osteoporotic fracture (POF) rats. MATERIAL AND METHODS In this study, ovariectomy-induced POF rats were treated with 600 mg/kg icariin. Micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) was used to assess fracture healing; besides, serum APK, TRACP-5b, and E₂ expression levels were detected by commercial kits, and the uterine index was calculated. In addition, the expression of osteogenesis-related proteins (Runx 2 and COL1A2) in the callus was measured by western blot, whereas the expression of OPG/RANKL pathway proteins was measured by western blot and immunohistochemical analysis. RESULTS Our data revealed that icariin promoted the expression level of Runx 2 and COL1A2 and suppressed the expression level of serum bone turn over biomarkers via the OPG/RANKL pathway. Besides, a more mature callus was observed in the POF rats receiving icariin than in the untreated POF rats, while serum E₂ and uterine index were unaffected by icariin treatment. CONCLUSIONS These results revealed that icariin could promote fracture healing in ovariectomized rats via OPG/RANKL signaling, and that serum E₂ and uterine index were not affected by icariin treatment.

中文翻译：

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淫羊藿苷促进卵巢切除大鼠的骨折愈合。

背景骨质疏松性骨折在绝经后妇女中很常见，并且与并发症相关。大量研究表明淫羊藿苷可用于治疗骨折和骨质疏松症。在此，我们评估了灌胃淫羊藿苷促进绝经后骨质疏松性骨折（POF）大鼠骨折愈合的功效。材料和方法 在这项研究中，卵巢切除诱导的 POF 大鼠接受 600 mg/kg 淫羊藿苷治疗。使用微型计算机断层扫描（micro-CT）评估骨折愈合情况；此外，采用商品化试剂盒检测血清APK、TRACP-5b、E2表达水平，并计算子宫指数。此外，通过蛋白质印迹法测量愈伤组织中成骨相关蛋白（Runx 2和COL1A2）的表达，而通过蛋白质印迹和免疫组化分析测量OPG/RANKL途径蛋白的表达。结果我们的数据显示，淫羊藿苷通过 OPG/RANKL 途径促进 Runx 2 和 COL1A2 的表达水平，并抑制血清骨转换生物标志物的表达水平。此外，接受淫羊藿苷治疗的POF大鼠比未治疗的POF大鼠观察到更成熟的愈伤组织，而血清E2和子宫指数不受淫羊藿苷治疗的影响。结论 这些结果表明，淫羊藿苷可以通过 OPG/RANKL 信号促进去卵巢大鼠的骨折愈合，并且血清 E2 和子宫指数不受淫羊藿苷治疗的影响。