Acta Veterinaria et Zootechnica Sinica ›› 2022, Vol. 53 ›› Issue (2): 628-636.doi: 10.11843/j.issn.0366-6964.2022.02.029

• CLINICAL VETERINARY MEDICINE • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Puerarin Alleviates the Inhibitory Effect of Cadmium on the Femoral and Tibial Osteoblast Differentiation of Rat

ZHANG Xueqing1,2, TONG Xishuai1,2,3, WANG Guoshuai1,2, BIAN Jianchun1,2,3, LIU Xuezhong1,2, YUAN yan1,2, ZOU Hui1,2, SHEN Xiaolan4, LIU Zongping1,2,3*, GU Jianhong1,2*   

  1. 1. College of Veterinary Medicine, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, China;
    2. Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center for Prevention and Control of Important Animal Diseases and Zoonoses, Yangzhou 225009, China;
    3. Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology Development(Joint International Research Laboratory of Agriculture & Agri-Product Safety), Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, China;
    4. Hechen Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Station of Xinghua, Taizhou 225733, China
  • Received:2021-05-28 Online:2022-02-23 Published:2022-03-02

Abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate the alleviation effect of puerarin on the differentiation of osteoblasts inhibited by cadmium (Cd) in rat femur and tibia. Forty 3-week-old SD male rats were randomly divided into 4 groups with 10 rats per group:control group (CON), cadmium group (Cd), puerarin group (Pur) and cadmium plus puerarin group (Cd + Pur). The rats in the control group and the cadmium group were gavaged with ultrapure water for 5 consecutive weeks. The rats related to puerarin group (puerarin group and cadmium plus puerarin group) were gavaged with puerarin solution (200 mg·kg-1BW) daily for 5 consecutive weeks. From the fifth week, rats in control group and puerarin group were intraperitoneally injected with normal saline, and the cadmium containing groups (cadmium group and cadmium plus puerarin group) were intraperitoneally injected with cadmium acetate (2.5 mg·kg-1BW) daily for 1 consecutive week. The contents of cadmium, calcium (Ca) and phosphorus (P) of the femur and tibia in rats were detected by atomic absorption spectrometry. The level of osteoblastic marker genes (RUNX2, OCN, ALP and OSX) were detected by qRT-PCR. The expression of Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway-related proteins (β-catenin, Wnt3A, LEF1 and TCF1) were detected by Western blot. The results showed that the content of Cd of the femur and tibia in cadmium group was significantly up-regulated (P<0.01), the level of osteoblastic marker genes were down-regulated, the expression of Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway-related proteins were extremely significantly down-regulated (P<0.01) compared with the control group, but the content of Ca and P were not significantly changed (P>0.05). The content of Cd, Ca and P of the femur and tibia in puerarin group was not significantly changed (P>0.05), the level of osteoblastic marker genes (RUNX2, ALP and OCN) were extremely significantly up-regulated (P<0.01), and the expression of Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway-related proteins were extremely significantly up-regulated (P<0.01). The content of Cd of the femur and tibia in the cadmium plus puerarin group was extremely significantly down-regulated (P<0.01), the level of osteoblastic marker gene was extremely significantly up-regulated (P<0.01), and the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway-related proteins were extremely significantly up-regulated (P<0.01) compared with the cadmium group, but the content of Ca and P in the femur and tibia had no significant changes (P>0.05). The results showed that puerarin had an alleviation effect on the differentiation of osteoblasts inhibited by cadmium in rats, which was involved in Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway.

Key words: puerarin, cadmium, osteoblastic differentiation, Wnt/β-catenin signal pathway

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