Activation of AKT signaling via small molecule natural compound prevents against osteoblast apoptosis and osteonecrosis of the femoral head

Zhong-Hai Shen; Xu-Qi Hu; Min-Jie Hu; Xue-Kang Pan; Hui-Gen Lu; Bao Chen; Bin Wu; Gang Chen

Activation of AKT signaling via small molecule natural compound prevents against osteoblast apoptosis and osteonecrosis of the femoral head

Am J Transl Res. 2020 Nov 15;12(11):7211-7222. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Zhong-Hai Shen¹, Xu-Qi Hu¹, Min-Jie Hu¹, Xue-Kang Pan¹, Hui-Gen Lu¹, Bao Chen¹, Bin Wu¹, Gang Chen¹

Affiliation

¹ Department of Orthopaedics, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Jiaxing University Jiaxing, Zhejiang, China.

PMID: 33312361
PMCID: PMC7724333

Abstract

Vinpocetine (Vinp), a natural compound extracted from the leaves of Phyllostachys pubescens with apoptosis modulatory properties in variety of disorders. In the present study, we investigated the possible mechanism of Vinp in alleviating of the progress of osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH) both in vitro and in vivo experiments. The results showed that treatment with Vinp suppressed the dexamethasone (Dex) induced over-regulation of ROS level and apoptotic factors. Mechanistically, the Vinp activated Akt signaling pathway in osteoblast. Moreover, Vinp exerted a protective role in animal ONFH model. To summarize, this work illustrated Vinp possessed a new potential therapeutic drug in ONFH.

Keywords: Akt; ONFH; Vinpocetine; apoptosis; osteoblast.