Objective To investigate the effect of paeoniflorin on osteoblastic differentiation of MC3T3-E1 and osteoporosis in mice. Methods In vitro experiments cells were divided into control group and different concentrations of paeoniflorin intervention groups. CCK-8 method was used to detect the effect of paeoniflorin on the activity of MC3T3-E1 osteoblasts. Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) staining and activity detection of paeoniflorin effects on the osteogenic differentiation of MC3T3-E1 were utilized. Alizarin red staining was used to detect the effect of paeoniflorin on the mineralization capacity of MC3T3-E1. MRNA and related proteins such as Runx2, OPG, RANKL, Col1α1 were detected by quantitative fluorescence PCR and Western blot. Twenty-four 8-week-old C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into three groups, namely Sham group, OVX model group and OVX+Pa model intervention group. After 2 months of intervention, the left distal femur and proximal tibia regions of each mouse were selected for hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining, Runx2 immunohistochemistry, and micro-CT scanning. Results Compared with the control group, medium and high dose paeoniflorin group could promote the activity and expression of ALP in MC3T3-E1 cells (P<0.05). High dose paeoniflorin could promote the mineralization ability of MC3T3-E1 cells (P<0.01). Meanwhile, paeoniflorin could promote the expression of osteogenic differentiation genes OPG and Runx2(P<0.05), and inhibited the expression of RANKL gene and protein (P<0.05). In vivo, results showed that OVX group induced significant bone microstructure destruction and significantly decreased Runx2 protein expression compared with Sham group (P<0.01). The number and thickness of bone trabeculae were significantly attenuated in the paeoniflorin group (P<0.01),the bone trabeculae space was significantly decreased (P<0.01), and the expression of Runx2 protein was increased compared with the osteoporotic mice (P<0.01). Conclusion Paeoniflorin can promote the differentiation of osteoblasts, elevate the expression of related bone formation genes, improve the bone microstructure of osteoporosis model mice. It has the potential value of anti-osteoporosis treatment. |