The Dose-Effect of Icariin on the Proliferation and Osteogenic Differentiation of Human Bone Mesenchymal Stem Cells

Abstract

Icariin had been reported as a potential agent for osteogenesis, but the dose-effect relationship needed further research to realize the clinical application of icariin. We isolated and purified human bone mesenchymal stem cells (hBMSCs) and stimulated them with different concentrations of icariin. The cytotoxicity of icariin was evaluated by the methylthiazolytetrazolium (MTT) assay method. The proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of such hBMSCs were investigated for different concentrations of icariin. We found that icariin had a dose-dependent effect on the proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of hBMSCs in a suitable concentration range from 10−9 M to 10−6 M, but at concentrations above 10−5 M, the cytotoxicity limited its use. The extremely low cost of icariin and its high abundance make it appealing for bone regeneration.

An MC3T3-E1 Cell Line Biomembrane Extraction and HPLC–ESI-MS n Method for Simultaneous Analysis of Potential Anti-Osteoporosis Components of Epimedium koreanum

“…These results are consistent with the proliferation and mineralization stages in the growth of the osteoblast-like MC3T3-E1 cells [29]. Our data showed that the tested flavonoids did promote osteoblast proliferation and differentiation, consistent with reports in recent literature [21,30,31]. In addition, we found that epimedin B and epimedin C were more potent than icariin.…”

New pathway of icariin-induced MSC osteogenesis: transcriptional activation of TAZ/Runx2 by PI3K/Akt

“…Independent studies have previously confirmed that icariin is a potent inducer for osteogenic differentiation of MSCs [1,11,12]. As a promising drug to facilitate MSC-based bone regeneration, the mechanism of icariin-induced osteogenic differentiation attracted significant attention.…”

“…It could be concluded from these findings that icariin treatment activated PI3K/Akt and osteoblasts by independent research groups [10,11]. The drug was determined clinically safe and approved for use in drug preparations [1,11,12]. The application of icariin to enhance osteogenic differentiation of MSCs was promising.…”

“…Each sample was replicated three times. The relative expression of target genes was quantified as previously reported [11,12]. The gene-specific primers for PPARγ, Runx2, OCN, BSP and ALP in the study were designed using primer3.0.…”

Chinese Herbal Medicines – Comparison of Doses Prescribed in Clinical Practice and those in China Pharmacopeia

“…Until a certain dosage is used, no optimum effect can be determined. Dose-effect relation is referring to the increase or decrease of herbal dosage (concentration) which will ultimately correspond to a stronger or weakened therapeutic effect [1].…”