Icariin augments bone formation through activation of canonical Wnt signaling pathway

摘要

Background: Traditional Chinese herbal medicine has been widely used for thousands of years for the treatment of bone diseases. Icariin belong to a class of flavonoid which is used to prevent bone loss and can be extract from several species of plants in the Epimedium family commonly known as Yin Yang Huo. In some reports, Icariin has been mostly reported to boost bone fracture healing and treat postmenopausal osteoporosis in ovariectomized animal model. Wnt signaling pathway with a foundational role during embryogenesis and normal cell development, which can regulates bone development and gene expression in whole process of bone metabolism. In this manuscript, we want to identify the role of icariin via regulating Wnt signaling pathway in bone formation.