Effects of "Gengnianchun Decoction" on Osteoblasts Proliferation, Differentiation and Mineralization in Rats

Objective To explore the effects of Gengnianchun Decoction on the activities of osteoblasts in vitro. Methods The osteoblasts were isolated from newborn rat calvaria by enzyme digestion, treated with different culture media. Different concentrations of Chinese traditional medicine(GNC):high,moderate and low level groups,nilestriol(E group),saline(N group)and sham(S group). Microculture tetrozolium, p-nitrophenyl phosphate, alizarin red were used to observe the proliferation, activity of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and the number of mineral nodes of osteoblasts cultured in vitro. Results The OD570 and OD405 of osteoblasts in different GNC groups were higher than those of N group(P 0.01). Compared with E group, the OD570 and OD405 of H group increased obviously(P 0.01,P 0.05) H and E groups had many more mineralization nodes than those of N group(P 0.01 and P 0.05,respectively). The mineralization nodes of H group were more than that of E group(P 0.05). Conclusion GNC can improve the proliferation, differentiation and mineralization of osteoblasts cultured in vitro. The H group is better than E group; the mechanism of GNC preventing osteoporosis may be related with its stimulating osteoblasts activities.