Effects of icariin on the osteogenic differentiation of bone marrow mysenchymal stem cells in vitro

Objective To investigate the effects of icariin on the osteogenic differentiation of bone marrow mysenchymal stem cells.Methods 10-8,10-7,10-6,10-5 and 10-4 mol/L icariin were supplemented into the culture media of primary rat bone marrow mysenchymal stem cells(rBMSCs) separately.The cell proliferation was assayed by MTT method and compared with each other.The osteogenic differentiation markers including CFU-F_ALP,alkaline phosphatase(ALP) activity,osteocalcin secretion,calcium deposition and mineralized bone modulus were compared between the icariin-supplemented group and the control.The gene expression of bone-related protein and cytokines were analysed by common RT-PCR and real-time RT-PCR.Results Icariin didn't stimulate but inhibit the proliferation of rBMSCs at primary culture.10-5 mol/L icariin strongly enhances the osteogenic differentiation of rBMSCs which was shown by significantly improved CFU-F_ALP number,ALP activity,osteocalcin secretion,calcium deposition and mineralized modulus in the icarrin-supplemented group compared with the control.The gene expression level of bone-related marker proteins and cytokines were also obviously higher in the former than in the latter group.Conclusion Icariin strongly stimulates the osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs,which indicates that icariin has the ability to enhance the bone formation activity.