title: Protective effects of total saponins of panax notoginseng on steroid-induced avascular necrosis of the femoral head in vivo and in vitro.
abstract: This research was designed to investigate the protective effects of TSPN on steroid-induced avascular necrosis of the femoral head (ANFH) and the likely mechanisms of those effects. As an in vivo study, TSPN was shown to be protective against steroid-induced ANFH due to the upregulation of VEGF-A. Furthermore, TSPN attenuated the apoptosis of osteocytes and reduced the expression of Caspase-3 relative to the model group. As an in vitro study, TSPN exerted a concentration-dependent protective effect against apoptosis in MC3T3-E1 cells. Moreover, TSPN (at a dose of 100 μg/mL) significantly reversed the dexamethasone-induced augmentation of Caspase-3 expression and activity. Therefore, our study demonstrated that TSPN had a protective effect against steroid-induced ANFH that was related to the upregulation of VEGF-A and the inhibition of apoptosis and Caspase-3 activation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China.
authors.forename: Heng-Feng
authors.initials: HF
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China.
authors.forename: Jian-Feng
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China.
authors.forename: Shuo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China.
authors.forename: Chang-An
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China.
authors.forename: Shu-Hao
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China.
authors.forename: Zuo-Qin
authors.initials: ZQ
authors.lastname: Yan