Role of Cytokines in Osteoporosis and Intervention with Traditional Chinese Medicine： A Review / 中国实验方剂学杂志

ABSTRACT

Osteoporosis （OP） is one of the most common diseases in the aged population worldwide. Due to the rapid change in world population structure， the effective prevention and treatment of OP is increasingly becoming the health problem of global concern and also the hot spot of clinical research. OP can be affected by many factors such as heredity， endocrine dyscrasia， nutritional deficiency， and bad living habits. The breakdown of coupling of osteoclast-mediated bone resorption to osteoblast-mediated bone formation leads to stronger bone resorption than bone formation， which is currently recognized as the main pathogenesis of OP. The exploration of OP in modern medicine based on molecular immunology has revealed that related cytokines play an important role in the pathogenesis of OP，and regulating the osteoclast-mediated bone resorption and osteoblast-mediated bone formation is essential for controlling the occurrence and development of OP. Tumor necrosis factor-α （TNF-α）， interleukin-1β （IL-1β）， and interleukin-6 （IL-6） are able to stimulate bone formation and inhibit osteoblast function， thus playing a key role in bone destruction. By contrast， such cytokines as vascular endothelial growth factor （VEGF）， transforming growth factor-β （TGF-β）， bone morphogenetic protein （BMP）， and osteoprotegerin （OPG） strengthen osteoblast differentiation and promote bone formation. At present， western medicine like calcitonin， estrogen， and bisphosphonate are mostly used for clinical treatment of OP， but a long-term use of these drugs will result in poor compliance and obvious gastrointestinal adverse reactions. Traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） occupies an important position in the treatment of OP due to its advantages of overall regulation， low price， and few side effects. In addition， with the deepening of research on network pharmacology and molecular biology， it has been found that TCM exerts the therapeutic effect against OP by interfering with the expression of various cytokines and adjusting bone homeostasis. This paper has elaborated the role of related cytokines in the pathogenesis of OP and reviewed the research results concerning the regulation of related cytokines by TCM， in order to provide reference for the prevention and treatment of OP with TCM.