ArticleJournal of orthopaedic surgery and research2024
Icariin promotes bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells osteogenic differentiation via the mTOR/autophagy pathway to improve ketogenic diet-associated osteoporosis.
Article in Journal of orthopaedic surgery and research, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 13 citations in OpenAlex.
- From mechanisms to therapeutics: a narrative review on pyroptosis and autophagy in osteoporosis.Annals of medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Effects of anti-aging diets and exercise on age-related musculoskeletal diseases via gut microbiota modulation.Annals of medicine · 2026Review
- Role and therapeutic potential of icariin in metabolic diseases.Inflammopharmacology · 2026Review
- Ketogenic diet sex-dependent effects on rat bone marrow cells during development and β-HB protection in hypoglycemia.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Icariin: from preclinical promise to clinical reality-a critical evidence-based assessment.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2026Review
- Mechanisms and Drug-Augmenting Strategies of Mesenchymal Stem Cells for Preserving β-Cell in Type 2 Diabetes.Drug design, development and therapy · 2026Review
- Icariin as a Metabolic Regulator of Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cells: Mechanisms and Therapeutic Implications to Bone Homeostasis.Journal of inflammation research · 2026Review
- Icariin against osteoporosis: a review of advances in molecular mechanisms to biomedical applications.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2025Review
- Pharmacological mechanism of natural products to treat osteoporosis: a focus on the autophagy.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2025Review
- Article
- Osteogenic action of the natural plant material icariin and its potential use in biomedical tissue engineering.American journal of translational research · 2025Review
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundIcariin, a traditional Chinese medicine, has demonstrated anti-osteoporotic properties in ovariectomized mice. However, its effectiveness in preventing bone loss induced by ketogenic diet (KD), which mimics osteoporosis in human, remains unexplored. This study aims to investigate icariin's impact on KD-induced bone loss in mice.
methodsThirty mice were divided into: sham, KD, and KD + icariin groups. Post a 12-week intervention, evaluation including bone microstructures, serum concentrations of tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) and bone-specific alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and femoral tissue expression levels of osteocalcin (OCN) and TRAP. The expression levels of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), ALP, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPAR-γ), phosphorylated mTOR (p-mTOR), and the autophagy adaptor protein (p62) were also analyzed. Alizarin granule deposition and cellular ALP levels were measured following the induction of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) into osteogenesis.
resultsThe study found that KD significantly impaired BMSCs' osteogenic differentiation, leading to bone loss. Icariin notably increased bone mass, stimulated osteogenesis, and reduced cancellous bone loss. In the KD + icariin group, measures such as bone tissue density (TMD), bone volume fraction (BV/TV), trabecular number (Tb.N), and trabecular thickness (Tb.Th) were significantly higher than in the KD group. Additionally, bone trabecular separation (Tb.Sp) was markedly lower in the KD + icariin group. Moreover, icariin increased OCN and ALP levels while suppressing PPAR-γ, TRAP, p62, and p-mTOR. In cellular studies, icariin encouraged osteogenic development in BMSCs under KD conditions.
conclusionsIcariin effectively counteracts bone thinning and improves bone microstructure. Its mechanism likely involves stimulating BMSCs osteogenic differentiation and inhibiting bone resorption, potentially through mTOR downregulation. These findings suggest icariin's potential as an alternative treatment for KD-induced bone loss.
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