Objective:
The regeneration capacity of the osteoporotic bones is generally lower than that of normal for craniofacial bones. Current methods of bone defect treatment for osteoporosis are not always satisfactory. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an ideal approach that can reduce the risk of bone fracture, which is attributed to its dual function in increasing the bone formation and decreasing the bone resorption. However, the molecular mechanisms of TCM are still not fully understood.
Materials and Methods:
Through bioinformatics selection of candidate of TCM, we hypothesize that the combination of stem cells and TCM may have synergetic effects on osteoporotic bone regeneration, the porous TCM substituted cryogel scaffolds were developed to promote osteoporotic craniofacial bone regeneration in rats. The effects of TCM on osteogenic differentiation of adipose stem cells derived from ovariectomized rats (ASCsOVX) were investigated. The osteogenic potential was also evaluated using an alveolar defect model in rats.
Results:
We found that Huangbai could enhance the osteogenic differentiation of the ASCsOVX, with upregulated extracellular matrix gene expression and activated Wnt/b-catenin pathway. The in vivo experiments revealed that ASCsOVX/TCM cryogel enhanced bone regeneration in a critical sized alveolar bone defect of OVX rats.
Conclusions:
The osteoporotic bone regeneration in critically craniofacial bone defects of OVX rat model
showed that TCM not only have superior osteoinductive activity to enhance early bone formation but could also promote in vivo bone formation through regulating Wnt signaling. Our studies demonstrated that the TCM scaffolds combine with ASCsOVX might be a new strategy to enhance craniofacial bone regeneration in osteoporosis.

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