Study on the mechanism of naringin in promoting bone differentiation: In vitro and in vivo study

Objective: Osteoporosis is a common clinical bone disease that occurs most frequently in middleaged and elderly people. Various traditional herbal medicine formulations have shown significant benefits in models of osteoporosis. In this study, we aim to investigate the osteogenic efficacy of naringin (NRG) in the osteoporotic state. Design: We treated Bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) with various concentrations of NRG for 3 and 7 days. BMSC proliferation was measured by the MTT assay. The effect of NRG on the osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs was detected by ALP and alizarin red staining. The effect of NRG on the BMP2/Runx2/Osterix signaling pathway was analyzed by using real-time PCR. The effect of NRG on the oestrogen receptor was measured by Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. In vivo animal experiments were performed by micro-computed tomography and ALP immunohistochemistry to determine the ectopic osteogenic effect of NRG sustained-release nanoparticles in a mouse model of osteoporosis. Results: NRG promoted the proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs. Moreover, it also activated the BMP2/Runx2/Osterix signaling pathway. When NRG sustained-release nanoparticles were added in vivo in animal experiments, we found that NRG sustained-release nanoparticles had better ectopic osteogenic effects in a mouse model of osteoporosis. Conclusions: NRG induced osteoblastic differentiation of BMSCs by activating the BMP2/Runx2/ Osterix signaling pathway and promoted the regulation of oestrogen receptor pathway protein expression, and NRG sustained-release nanoparticles exerted a more significant in vivo ectopic osteogenic effect in an osteoporosis mouse model. Therefore, naringin is expected to be developed as a novel treatment for inducing osteogenesis, because of its ubiquitous, cost-efficient, and biologically active characteristics. However, further research is needed on how to improve the pharmacokinetic properties of naringin and its specific mechanism.