Effect of herbal extracts on rat bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) derived osteoblast - Preliminary result

Abstract

Local medicinal herbs are widely used in the management of bone fracture and osteoporosis. However there is no scientific evidence for the significance of the usage of the herbs in bone-related disease treatment. Therefore we initiated proper scientific studies to test the effects of two herbs (Drynaria quercifolia, Gendarussa vulgaris) and a formulation powder containing G.vulgaris. Here we report on the effect of the extracts of the herbs on the proliferation of rat BMSC derived osteoblasts. Samples of the herbs were obtained from local herbalists and prepared to obtain four types of polarity compound solvent extract for each herb were reconstituted in media tested on rat-BMSC-derived osteoblasts. Rat-BMSC-derived osteoblasts were harvested and seeded in 96-well plates at a density of 3000cells/well. Cells in the wells were treated with 100μg/ml reconstituted extracts and cultured for 3 days, 7 days and 14 days. The resulting cell viability was determined with a proliferation assay using Cell Counting Kit-8 (Sigma). Results showed the addition of herbal extracts induced enhancement effects on BMSC-derived osteoblasts to varying extents. Ethanol extract of Gendarussa vulgaris induced a significant and consistent enhancement on BMSC derived osteoblast proliferation on day 7 and day 10 incubation. The enhancement percentage is 31.35% on day 7 incubation and 58.91% for day 10 incubation compared to respective negative control. Thus, we can conclude that ethanol extract of Gendarussa vulgaris could enhance bone-cell proliferation. Further investigation will be focused on characterization of the effects of bioactive compounds on bone cell proliferation on alkaline phosphatase and osteocalcin production. © 2011 Springer-Verlag.