Wear-particle-induced chronic inflammation and osteoclastogenesis have been identified as critical factors of aseptic loosening. Although strontium is known to be involved in osteoclast differentiation, its effect on particle-induced inflammatory osteolysis remains unclear. In this study, we investigate the potential impact and underling mechanism of strontium on particle-induced osteoclast activation and chronic inflammation in vivo and in vitro. As expected, strontium significantly inhibited titanium particle-induced inflammatory infiltration and prevented bone loss in a murine calvarial osteolysis model. Interestingly, the number of mature osteoclasts decreased after treatment with strontium in vivo, suggesting osteoclast formation might be inhibited by strontium. Additionally, low receptor activator of nuclear factor-κB ligand (RANKL), tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-1β, interleukin-6 and p65 immunochemistry staining were observed in strontium-treatment groups. In vitro, strontium obviously decreased osteoclast formation, osteoclastogenesis-related gene expression, osteoclastic bone resorption and pro-inflammatory cytokine expression in bone-marrow-derived macrophages in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, we demonstrated that strontium impaired osteoclastogenesis by blocking RANKL-induced activation of NF-κB pathway. In conclusion, our study demonstrated that strontium can significantly inhibit particle-induced osteoclast activation and inflammatory bone loss by disturbing the NF-κB pathway, and is an effective therapeutic agent for the treatment of wear particle-induced aseptic loosening.
Wear-debris-induced periprosthetic osteolysis (PIO) is a common clinical condition following total joint arthroplasty, which can cause implant instability and failure. The host response to wear debris promotes bone resorption and impairs bone formation. We previously demonstrated that icariin suppressed wear-debris-induced osteoclastogenesis and attenuated particle-induced osteolysis in vivo. Whether icariin promotes bone formation in a wear-debris-induced osteolytic site remains unclear. Here, we demonstrated that icariin significantly attenuated titanium-particle inhibition of osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). Additionally, icariin increased bone mass and decreased bone loss in titanium-particle-induced osteolytic sites. Mechanistically, icariin inhibited decreased β-catenin stability induced by titanium particles in vivo and in vitro. To confirm icariin mediated its bone-protective effects via the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway, we demonstrated that ICG-001, a selective Wnt/β-catenin inhibitor, attenuated the effects of icariin on MSC mineralization in vitro and bone formation in vivo. Therefore, icariin could induce osteogenic differentiation of MSCs and promote new bone formation at a titanium-particle-induced osteolytic site via activation of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. These results further support the protective effects of icariin on particle-induced bone loss and provide novel mechanistic insights into the recognized bone-anabolic effects of icariin and an evidence-based rationale for its use in PIO treatment.
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