| Objective To study the effect of nano calcium kidney tonifying traditional Chinese medicine on bone mineral density in hip osteoporotic rats through MAPK/ERK pathway. Methods Thirty SD rats were randomly divided into control group, model group and treatment group, with 10 rats in each group. The osteoporotic model of hip joint was established in the treatment group and the model group. The rats in the control group were routinely fed for 8 weeks. The bone mineral density of hip joint, the content of serum phosphorus and serum calcium, the bone biomechanics of hip joint, the HE staining of hip joint and the dosimetric observation parameters of bone histomorphology were measured, and the protein expression levels of RAS, ERK, PKC and pkag were detected by Western blot. Results Compared with the control group, the BMD, serum calcium and the contents of Tb·Ar, Tb·Th and Tb·N indexes in the model group and the treatment group were significantly decreased, while the contents of serum phosphorus and Tb·Sp indexes were significantly increased (P<0.05). Compared with the model group, the BMD, serum calcium and the contents of Tb·Ar, Tb·Th and Tb·N indexes in the treatment group were significantly increased, and the contents of serum phosphorus and Tb·Sp indexes were significantly decreased (P<0.05).The maximum load, compressive strength, axial stiffness and horizontal shear stiffness of rats in the model group and the treatment group were lower than those in the control group, and those in the treatment group were higher than those in the model group (P<0.05). The expression levels of RAS, ERK, PKC and pkag in model group and treatment group were higher than those in control group, and those in treatment group were lower than those in model group (P<0.05). Conclusion By regulating MAPK/ERK pathway, nano calcium kidney tonifying traditional Chinese medicine can down regulate the expression levels of RAS, ERK, PKC and pkag proteins, improve the bone mineral density, number of trabecular bone, thickness and area percentage of trabecular bone in the rat model of hip osteoporosis, and reduce the separation degree of trabecular bone. |