Abstract:

BACKGROUND: Kidney deficiency and blood stasis are the common etiology and pathogenesis of osteoarthritis and osteoporosis. The method of nourishing kidney and activating blood circulation is effective for treating these diseases.
OBJECTIVE: To further investigate the effects of Bushen Huoxue Decoction on the expression level of nuclear factor-KBp65 protein in rabbit chondrocytes.
METHODS: Thirty-seven female New Zealand white rabbits were provided by the Laboratory Animal Center of Guiyang Medical University, and the study was approved by the Experimental Animal Ethics Committee of Guiyang Medical University, approval number: 2015-024. Thirty rabbits were randomly divided into three groups, and the osteoporosis, osteoarthritis and osteoporosis + osteoarthritis models, were separately established. The remaining seven rabbits were used to prepare the serum containing drug, such as normal, low-, moderate-, and high-dose Bushen Huoxue Decoction, glucosamine hydrochloride, alendronate sodium, and glucosamine hydrochloride + alendronate sodium groups. The effect of seven groups of drugs on the expression level of nuclear factor-KBp65 protein in rabbit chondrocytes of three kinds of models was detected by western blot assay.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: (1) Moderate- and high-dose Bushen Huoxue Decoction down-regulated nuclear factor-KBp65 protein level in cells, which was significantly different from the normal group (P < 0.05). The effect was most obvious in the high-dose Bushen Huoxue Decoction group, compared with the low- and the moderate-dose groups (P < 0.05). (2) The down-regulation effect of unclear factor-KBp65 protein expression in the high-dose Bushen Huoxue Decoction group was significantly higher than that in the glucosamine hydrochloride and alendronate sodium groups (P < 0.05). (3) There was a significant difference between the high-dose Bushen Huoxue Decoction and glucosamine hydrochloride + alendronate sodium groups in the osteoporosis group (t=7.597, P < 0.05), but there was no significant difference between the osteoarthritis and osteoporosis + osteoarthritis groups (P > 0.05). Therefore, the down-regulation effect of unclear factor-KBp65 protein expression in the high-dose Bushen Huoxue Decoction group was better than that in the glucosamine hydrochloride and alendronate sodium groups, which was similar to that in the glucosamine hydrochloride + alendronate sodium group. (4) These results indicate that Bushen Huoxue Decoction can down-regulate the expression of nuclear factor-KBp65 protein, so as to reduce or inhibit the inflammatory reaction of osteoporosis and osteoarthritis, and indirectly or directly plays a role in protecting or repairing chondrocytes.

Key words: osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, western blot assay, Bushen Huoxue Decoction, nuclear factor-KBp65