Biomedical Research

Introduction: Radix Astragali (RA) has been used for herbal formulations in the treatment of bone degradation in traditional Chinese medicine.

Methods: The effects of aqueous extract from Radix Astragali (RA) on bone loss in spinal cord-injured rats were investigated in the present study. Forty male Wistar rats were divided into four groups: control group (rats with sham operation); osteoporosis group (Op group, rats with spinal cord sectioned); L group (spinal cord-injured rats treated with low-dose extract); and H group (spinal cordinjured rats treated with high-dose extract).

Results: Op group showed a significant decrease in bone mineral density and biomechanical properties versus control group. While RA extract could significantly reverse this bone degeneration trend, and the effects of high dose was better than low dose, which means such effects maybe dose dependent.

Conclusion: We conclude that RA decoction was able to initiate a positive effect on bone disorder after spinal cord injury, and RA is a hopefully source of new drugs for osteoporosis.

Author(s): Yaonan Zhang, Yunru Li, Chi Liu, Xuesong Gao, Lin Wang, Xuefei Duan
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