Stimulative effects of Polygonum amplexicaule var. sinense on osteoblastic MC3T3-E1 cells

Context: Polygonum amplexicaule D. Don var. sinense Forb. (Polygonaceae) (PAF) is a well known traditional herb used to treat some diseases, such as fractures, rheumatoid arthritis, muscle injury, and pain. However, its pharmacological mechanism of promoting the healing of fractures is still unknown. Objective: The present study was designed to investigate the effects of PAF ethanol extracts on the proliferation and differentiation of osteoblastic MC3T3-E1 cell in vitro, thereby to illuminate the pharmacological mechanism to promote the healing of fractures. Materials and methods: The effects of PAF ethanol extracts on MC3T3-E1 cell proliferation and differentiation were detected by using CCK-8, cell cycle, alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and prostaglandin E-2 (PGE(2)) assays in vitro. Results: The results showed that PAF ethanol extracts significantly stimulated cell proliferation at 0.1-100 mu g/mL and the proportion of cells in S-phase increased from 16.33 to 27.29% in osteoblastic MC3T3-E1 cells. Moreover, PAF ethanol extracts increased ALP expression in MC3T3-E1 cells at the concentration from 0.1 to 100 mu g/mL and inhibited PGE(2) production induced by TNF-alpha in osteoblasts at the concentrations ranging from 10 to 100 mu g/mL in MC3T3-E1 osteoblasts. Discussion and conclusion: These results indicated that PAF directly stimulates cell proliferation and differentiation of osteoblasts; therefore, this study preliminarily explored the pharmacological mechanism of PAF to promote the healing of bone rheumatism and various fractures.