In Vivo Study on the Pharmacological Interactions between a Chinese Herbal Formula ELP and Antiresorptive Drugs to Counteract Osteoporosis. (24th October 2012)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ko, Chun-Hay; Siu, Wing-Sum; Wong, Hing-Lok; Gao, Si; Shum, Wai-Ting; Lau, Ching-Po; Cheng, Sau-Wan; Tam, Jacqueline Chor-Wing; Hung, Leung-Kim; Fung, Kwok-Pui; Lau, Clara Bik-San; Han, Quan-Bin; Leung, Ping-Chung
• Other Names: Mohamed Norazlina Academic Editor.
• Is Part Of: Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine. Volume 2012(2012)
• Publication Date: 2012-10-24
• Subjects: Alternative medicine -- Periodicals; 615.505
• DOI: 10.1155/2012/203732
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1741-427X

Abstract

Abstract : Antiresorptive drugs, alendronate and raloxifene, are effective in lowering bone mineral density (BMD) loss in postmenopausal women. However, long-term treatment may be associated with serious side effects. Our research group has recently discovered that a Chinese herbal formula, ELP, could significantly reduce BMD loss in animal and human studies. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the potential synergistic bone-protective effects of different herb-drug combinations using ovariectomized rats. To assess the efficacy of different combinations, the total BMD was monitored biweekly in the 8-week course of daily oral treatment. Bone microarchitecture, bone strength, and deoxypyridinoline level were also determined after 8 weeks. From our results, coadministration of ELP and raloxifene increased the total tibial BMD by 5.26% (2.5 mg/kg/day of raloxifene; P = 0.014 ) and 5.94% (0.25 mg/kg/day of raloxifene; P = 0.026 ) when compared with the respective dosage groups with raloxifene alone. Similar synergistic effects were also observed in BMD increase at distal femur (0.25 mg/kg/day; P = 0.001 ) and reduction in urinary deoxypyridinoline crosslink excretion (2.5 and 0.25 mg/kg/day; both P = 0.02 ). However, such interactions could not be observed in all alendronate-treated groups. Our data provide first evidence that ELP could synergistically enhance the therapeutic effects of raloxifene, so that the clinical dosage of raloxifene could be reduced.