Gastrodin prevents steroid-induced osteonecrosis of the femoral head in rats by anti-apoptosis

摘要

Background Gastrodin,as one of the major components extracted from the Chinese herb Gastrodia elata BI.,has many biologic effects,one of which is anti-apoptosis.Apoptosis is considered to be one of the pathogenetic mechanisms in steroid-induced osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH).Therefore,we performed this study to investigate whether gastrodin has the potential to prevent steroid-induced ONFH.Methods All 18 male adult Wistar rats were divided equally into three groups:the steroid group,the gastrodin+steroid group,and the control group.Osteonecrosis was induced by low-dose lipopolysaccharide and subsequent high-dose methylprednisolone.Histomorphometric method was used to determine the incidence of osteonecrosis.Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end-labeling (TUNEL) assay was performed to detect apoptotic index of osteocytes and osteoblasts.Real-time PCR and Western blotting were performed to detect mRNA and protein expression of Bax,Bcl-2,and Caspase-3.Fisher's exact probability test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with Turkey's post hoc test were used to examine significant differences between groups.Results The incidence of osteonecrosis in the gastrodin+steroid group (16.7％) was significantly lower than that in the steroid group (83.3％).According to TUNEL assay,the apoptotic indices in the steroid group,the gastrodin+steroid group,and the control group were 91.1％,27.1％,and 5.4％,respectively,and the differences were significant between groups.Compared with the control group and the gastrodin+steroid group,the mRNA and protein expression levels of Bax and Caspase-3 were significantly higher in the steroid group,but the Bcl-2 mRNA and protein expression levels were significantly lower.Conclusion Gastrodin could prevent steroid-induced ONFH by anti-apoptosis.