Abstract
Iron loading has been reported to be a common stress in the development of cells, and this might be related to bone loss and osteoporosis. Astragaloside IV (ASI-IV), a pure compound derived from Radix Astragali, has been reported to exhibit cardioprotective, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-asthmatic and anticancer effects. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether ASI-IV could reverse iron loading-induced inhibition of cell viability, proliferation, pluripotency and osteogenesis, and promotion of adipogenesis of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs). Ferric ammonium citrate (FAC) was used to stimulate iron loading conditions. ASI-IV was observed to ameliorate the FAC-induced reduction of cell viability, proliferation, pluripotency and osteogenesis. In addition, ASI-IV could block increased adipogenesis of BMSCs after FAC treatment. We intraperitoneally injected mice with 250 mg/kg Fe-dextran, with or without ASI-IV (40 mg/Kg) for 4 weeks. ASI-IV inhibited iron-loading induced bone loss. Furthermore, ASI-IV played a protective role in iron loading-induced abnormal differentiation of BMSCs by regulating iron homeostasis and metabolism. In summary, our study suggests that ASI-IV may have potential for development into a novel therapeutic strategy for treatment of iron loading-induced abnormal differentiation of BMSCs and osteoporosis.
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