Plant Compounds Could Be Used in Osteoporosis Treatment

Scientists have isolated compounds from the plant Cibotium barmoetz that could be used in the development of therapeutic targets for osteoporosis.

The researchers showed that the compounds blocked formation of bone-destroying osteoclasts formation in up to 97 percent of the cells in laboratory cultures without harmful effects on other cells.

Osteoporosis is a major global problem, affecting 4 to 6 million women and 1 to 2 million men in the United States. Osteoporosis potentially impairs bone marrow function. If osteoclast production is increased or if osteoblast production is decreased, bone mass is decreased, resulting in increased susceptibility to bone fractures. Thus, a substance that decreases bone resorption, increases bone deposition, or both is important for treatment of osteoporosis.

The plant Cibotium barometz is abundant in China, NE India, Malaysia, Myanmar, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Japan. In Vietnam, the plant is widely distributed in mountainous areas at altitudes ranging from 500 to 700 m. The rhizomes are used in Vietnamese folk medicine to treat rheumatism, limb-ache, lumbago, neuralgia, and pollakiuria in the elderly. It is also used against sciatica, enuresis, and body-ache in pregnant women.

Eight compounds were isolated from a methanol extract of Cibotium barometz rhizomes.Four of the compounds showed inhibition of osteoclast formation with no adverse affect on other cells.
References:
1. Young Ho Kim, et al. Inhibitors of Osteoclast Formation from Rhizomes of Cibotium barometz. Journal of Natural Products. J. Nat. Prod., 2009, 72 (9), pp 1673–1677. DOI: 10.1021/np9004097.

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