title: Amomum villosum induces longitudinal bone growth in adolescent female rats.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of Amomum villosum on longitudinal bone growth.
  
  
  METHODS
  Adolescent female Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into 3 groups and treated for 4 days: control (distilled water, p.o.), recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH; 100 microg/kg, s.c.), and A. villosum (500 mg/kg, p.o.) groups. On day 3, tetracycline (20 g/kg, i.p.) was injected for growth plate identification. On days 2, and 4, 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BrdU) (50 mg/kg, i.p.) was injected to label proliferating cells. On day 5, tibias were dissected and fixed in 4% paraformaldehyde, dehydrated, and sectionedfor immunohistochemistry and histomorphometry.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The rate of bone growth in the A. villosum and rhGH groups increased to (410 +/- 44) and (389 +/- 46) microm/day (P<0.01), respectively, as compared with the control (330.7 +/- 34.7) microm/day. The thickness of the growth plates also increased to (591 +/- 37) and (598 +/- 32) microm, respectively, as compared with the control (524 +/- 89) microm (P<0.001). The number of BrdU-positive cells in the chondrocytes of the A. villosum and rhGH groups was also significantly higher (126 +/- 24) and (143 +/- 18) cells/mm2, respectively) than in the control (109 +/- 25) mm2 (P<0.05). Insulin-like growth factor-1 and bone morphogenetic protein-2 in the A. villosum and rhGH groups were highly expressed in the growth plate as compared with the control samples, indicating increased bone formation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A. villosum could be used to treat growth retardation during adolescence.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics of Korean Medicine, Kyung Hee University Hospital at Gang-dong, 892 Dongnam-ro, Gangdong-gu, Seoul 134-727, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Sun Haeng
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Ji Young
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Hocheol
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Seul Ki
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Cho Young
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Sun Yong
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.forename: Gyu Tae
authors.initials: GT
authors.lastname: Chang
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D041923:Adolescent Development / Q000187:drug effects*; D035801:Amomum / Q000737:chemistry*; D000818:Animals; D001846:Bone Development / Q000187:drug effects*; D055396:Bone Morphogenetic Protein 2 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005260:Female; D006132:Growth Plate / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
chemical_list: D055396:Bone Morphogenetic Protein 2; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I