| Objective To investigate whether Puerarin (PR) can improve the peak bone mass of young rats and play a role in the prevention of osteoporosis. Methods Thirty-six Wistar female healthy rats were randomly divided into four groups: control group (CON), Icariin (ICA, positive control group) and Puerarin group (PR). ICA group was administered with icariin 25 mg/ (kg ? d), rats in the PR group were treated with Puerarin 15.4 mg/ (kg ? d), and the control group was administered with equal volume of distilled water. All rats were sacrificed after significant differences in bone mineral density (after 2 months) were observed among the groups. The organ index of vital organs was calculated. Pathological analysis was performed by HE staining. Vertebrae and femur were assessed by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry for bone mineral density, universal testing machine was used for bone biomechanical testing, ELISA kits were used to assess serum bone metabolism indicators and VG staining was used for bone morphometric examination. Results Body weight increased in all three groups, but here were no significant differences in body weight and organ index of lung, kidney and uterus among the groups during the experiment. No pathological changes were observed in the pathology examination. At baseline, there were no significant differences in bone mineral density among the CON group, ICA group and the PR group, and the increase in bone mineral density in ICA group and PR group was not significantly different from that of the CON group at 4 weeks after the intragastric administration (both P>0.05). However, compared with CON group, bone mineral density of ICA group and PR group significantly increased (both P<0.01) at the end of the 8 weeks. Biomechanical results: Compared with CON group, the maximum load values ??of femur and vertebrae of ICA group and PR group significantly increased (P <0.01, P<0.05). Bone histomorphometry VG staining analysis: compared with CON group, the number of trabecular (Tb.N), trabecular thickness (Tb.Th) and bone volume / tissue volume (BV/TV) values ?significantly increased (all P<0.05), and trabecular spacing (Tb.Sp) was significantly lower (P<0.01). Compared with CON group, the levels of osteocalcin (OC) in ICA group and PR group were significantly higher (both P<0.05), and of Tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase 5b (TRACP 5b) were significantly lower (both P<0.05). Conclusion Puerarin can significantly improve the peak bone mineral density and bone mass of young rats, enhance the biomechanical properties of femur and vertebrae, and change the bone histomorphometry properties. The possible mechanism is that it has the dual activity of improving bone formation and inhibiting bone resorption. |