| Objective To explore the effects of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) invigorating kidney yin and kidney yang, invigorating spleen, and invigorating kidney and spleen on the expression of CXCR4 protein during the differentiation of osteoblasts by bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells, so as to provide evidence for the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis with traditional Chinese medicine. Methods Rat BMSCs were isolated and cultured in vitro. SPF female SD rats were randomly divided into 6 groups by random number table method. They were normal group, induction group, Bushen-Yang group, Bushen-Yin group, tonifying spleen group, and tonifying kidney and spleen group. The rats received intragastric administration of prepare drug-containing serum for 7 days. After 18 days of bone induction in each group, Alizarin red staining was used to detect the mineralization, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to detect CXCR4 and BMP2 in the supernatant of each group of cells. Results After 18 days of induction, compared with the normal group, the content of BMP-2 in the Bushen-Yang group and the Bushen-Jianpi group increased significantly (P<0.01). There was no significant difference in the induction group and Bushen-Yin group (P>0.05). The content of BMP-2 in the tonifying kidney and spleen group increased significantly (P<0.01). The content of BMP-2 in the Bushen-Yang group and Bushen-Yin group increased, but it was not significant (P>0.05). The comparison of BMP-2 protein concentration in each drug-containing group was in the following order: Bushen and spleen group> kidney-yang group> kidney-yin group> spleen-invigorating group. Compared with the normal group, CXCR4 increased in all the groups, and it was the highest in the tonifying kidney and spleen group. Compared with the induction group, the content of CXCR4 in the Bushen-Yin group increased significantly (P<0.05). The content of CXCR4 in the Bushen-Yang group and tonifying kidney and spleen group increased significantly (P<0.01). The content of CXCR4 in the spleen-invigorating group also increased, but it was not significant (P>0.05). Compared with the normal group, the induction group, and other traditional Chinese medicine groups, the number of mineralized nodules in the kidney-invigorating and spleen-invigorating group were the largest, and the volume was larger than other groups. Conclusion The different treatment methods of tonifying kidney yin, tonifying kidney yang, strengthening spleen, and tonifying kidney and spleen positively promote the differentiation of rat bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells into osteoblasts. The function may be through the regulating of CXCR4 protein level. In addition, in this experiment, the regulation effect of the method of tonifying the kidney and strengthening the spleen is better than other traditional Chinese medicine groups. The deficiency of the kidney is the key to the pathogenesis of osteoporosis. The treatment should focus on tonifying the kidney and strengthening the spleen. |