Objective: To study the effects of Osteoking in promoting gene expression of core binding factor alpha 1 (cbfalpha 1) in necrotic femoral head of rabbits.
Methods: Rabbit model of femoral head necrosis (FHN) was induced by intravenous injection of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) 10 microg/kg body weight twice with an interval of 24 h and intramuscular injection with methyl prednisone (MPS) 20 mg/kg body weight 3 times. The dynamic changes of cbfalpha 1 gene expression in the femoral head were observed with immunohistochemistry and real-time quantitative PCR.
Results: The protein expression of cbfa 1 gene was negative in both model and treatment groups at the 4th week, it turned to weakly positive in the treatment group at the 8th and 12th week but still negative in the model group. The mRNA expression of cbfalpha 1 in the treatment group was 2.87 times that in the model group at the 12th week. There was no significant difference in cbfalpha 1 expression between the normal rabbits with or without Osteoking treatment.
Conclusion: Osteoking could promote the endogenous cbfalpha 1 expression in the FHN, the effect is better along with the prolonging of the time applied. But it showed no affection on cbfalpha 1 expression in the normal femoral head of rabbits.