Ficus deltoidea Prevented Bone Loss in Preclinical Osteoporosis/Osteoarthritis Model by Suppressing Inflammation

Abstract

Osteoporosis (OP) and osteoarthritis (OA) are debilitating musculoskeletal diseases of the elderly. Ficus deltoidea (FD) or mistletoe fig, a medicinal plant, was pre-clinically evaluated against OP- and OA-related bone alterations, in postmenopausal OA rat model. Thirty twelfth-week-old female rats were divided into groups (n = 6). Four groups were bilateral ovariectomized (OVX) and OA-induced by intra-articular monosodium iodoacetate (MIA) injection into the right knee joints. The Sham control and OVX-OA non-treated groups were given deionized water. The three other OVX-OA groups were orally administered daily with FD extract (200, 400 mg/kg) or diclofenac (5 mg/kg) for 4 weeks. The rats' bones and blood were evaluated for protein and mRNA expressions of osteoporosis and inflammatory indicators, and micro-CT computed tomography for bone microstructure. The non-treated OVX-OA rats developed severe OP bone loss and bone microstructural damage in the subchondral and metaphyseal regions, supported by reduced serum bone formation markers (osteocalcin, osteoprotegerin) and increased bone resorption markers (RANKL and CTX-I). The FD extract significantly (p < 0.05) mitigated these bone microstructural and biomarker changes by dose-dependently down-regulating pro-inflammatory NF-κβ, TNF-α, and IL-6 mRNA expressions. The FD extract demonstrated good anti-osteoporotic properties in this OP/OA preclinical model by stimulating bone formation and suppressing bone resorption via anti-inflammatory pathways. This is among the few reports relating the subchondral bone plate and trabecular thickening with the metaphyseal trabecular osteopenic bone loss under osteoporotic-osteoarthritis conditions, providing some insights on the debated inverse relationship between osteoporosis and osteoarthritis.

Andrographis paniculata Extract Relieves Pain and Inflammation in Monosodium Iodoacetate-Induced Osteoarthritis and Acetic Acid-Induced Writhing in Animal Models

“…Inflammatory cytokines are secreted primarily by the synovial chondrocytes and can be found in the synovial fluids of OA patients [6]. As pain and synovial inflammation are two of the major complaints of OA patients, the available treatments for OA are designed mainly to alleviate pain and inflammation [7,8]. Currently, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) and steroids are being used as a first-line therapy against OA to control pain and inflammation [9].…”

Anti‐Disuse Osteoporosis Activity of a Complex of Calcium‐Binding Peptide from Auricularia auricula Protein Hydrolysates

“…In fact, numerous experiments have implicated pro‐inflammatory cytokines as primary mediators of the accelerated bone loss. Inflammation has been tightly associated with osteoporosis development through pro‐inflammatory cytokines releases (Che Ahmad Tantowi et al., ; R Mundy, ). Nevertheless, bone loss is mainly induced by both the decrease of bone formation and the increase of bone resorption.…”

“…Some potent anti-inflammatory drugs are being used to protect bone health. Complete control of inflammation promotes clinical improvement and alleviates bone loss (Briot, Geusens, Em Bultink, Lems, & Roux, 2017;Che Ahmad Tantowi, Lau, & Mohamed, 2018).…”

Unraveling Natural Products’ Role in Osteoarthritis Management—An Overview

“…Several studies have determined some qualities of the plant extract, in the context of antioxidant or antimicrobial competence, while others have focused on its inhibitory assets against inflammation [59][60][61][62]. Three studies that took place over the past four years have assessed the potential of the plant in the context of experimental models [63][64][65]. Initial in vitro results of the 2016 survey investigating the impact of Ficus deltoidea (FD) leaves extract supplementation on OA through IL-1β-induced bovine cartilage explant exhibited inhibitory properties of this intervention on proteoglycan loss in addition to an increasing tendency of chondrocytes proliferation [63].…”

“…However, the second (2017) research also highlighted that similarly to diclofenac, the plant extract intervention (dose equivalent of 60 mg/kg for humans) down-regulated the IL-1β, PGE 2 receptor, and MMP-1 mRNA expressions in the osteoarthritic cartilages, which seemed to be dose-dependent [64]. Finally, a study conducted in 2018 by the same team aimed to provide bases on the inconclusive osteoporosis/osteoarthritis relationship [65].…”