| Objective To explore the therapeutic effect of acupuncture on bone injury in postmenopausal osteoporosis fracture rats and its possible mechanism. Methods Thirsty-six female SD rats were selected to establish the postmenopausal osteoporosis model by bilateral ovariectomy. Three weeks after the model was successfully established, the femoral fracture model was established by closed fracture method. They were randomly divided into model group, acupuncture group, acupuncture +Wnt antagonist group, and another sham operation group. Rats in the acupuncture group was treated with acupuncture. Rats in the acupuncture+Wnt antagonist group was treated with acupuncture while subcutaneously injecting 20 mg kg-1 Wnt antagonist DKK1. Rats in the sham operation group and the model group were only given routine feeding. Bone mineral density (BMD), tissue mineral density (TMD) and bone volume fraction (BV/TV), the number of trabecular bone (TB.N), trabecular bone thickness (TB.TH), and trabecular bone separation (TB.SP) of femurs in each group were measured. The levels of serum inflammatory factors and osteogenic influencing factors were detected in each group. HE staining was used to observe the histopathological changes of femurs and to evaluate the bone injury. RT-PCR and Western blotting were used to detect the secreted protein Wnt3a and β-catenin mRNA and protein expressions. Results Compared with those in the sham operation group, ALP, PINP, histopathological score of the femur, BMD, TMD, BV/TV, TB.N, TB.th, and Wnt3a and β-catenin mRNA and protein expressions decreased, the levels of TB.Sp, TNF- α, IL-1 β, and IL-6 increased in the model group (P<0.05). Compared with those in the model group, ALP, PINP, histopathological score of the femur, BMD, TMD, BV/TV, TB.N, TB.th, and Wnt3a and β-catenin mRNA and protein expressions increased, the levels of TB.Sp, TNF- α, IL-1 β, and IL-6 decreased in the acupuncture group (P<0.05). Compared with those in the acupuncture group, ALP, PINP, histopathological score of the femur, BMD, TMD, BV/TV, TB.N, TB.th, and Wnt3a and β-catenin mRNA and protein expressions decreased, the levels of TB.Sp, TNF- α, IL-1 β, and IL-6 increased in the acupuncture+Wnt antagonist group (P<0.05). Conclusion Acupuncture improves BMD, reduces inflammatory reaction in vivo, and increases the level of osteogenic factors in PMOP femoral fracture rats, which may play a role by regulating Wnt signaling pathway. |