Gleditsiae fructus regulates osteoclastogenesis by inhibiting the c-Fos/NFATc1 pathway and alleviating bone loss in an ovariectomy model

Medical and economic developments have allowed the human lifespan to extend and, as a result, the elderly population has increased worldwide. Osteoporosis is a common geriatric disease that has no symptoms and even a small impact can cause fractures in patients, leading to a serious deterioration in the quality of life. Osteoporosis treatment typically involves bisphosphonates and selective estrogen receptor modulators. However, these treatments are known to cause severe side effects, such as mandibular osteonecrosis and breast cancer, if used for an extended period of time. Therefore, it is essential to develop therapeutic agents from natural products that have fewer side effects. Gleditsiae fructus (GF) is a dried or immature fruit of Gleditsia sinensis Lam. and is composed of various triterpenoid saponins. The anti-inflammatory effect of GF has been confirmed in various diseases, and since the anti-inflammatory effect plays a major role in inhibiting osteoclast differentiation, GF was expected to be effective in osteoclast differentiation and menopausal osteoporosis; however, to the best of our knowledge, it has not yet been studied. Therefore, the present study was designed to examine the effect of GF on osteoclastogenesis and to investigate the mechanism underlying inhibition of osteoclast differentiation. The effects of GF on osteoclastogenesis were determined in vitro by tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) staining, pit formation assays, filamentous actin (F-actin) ring formation assays, western blotting and reverse transcription-quantitative PCR analyses. Furthermore, the administration of GF to an animal model exhibiting menopausal osteoporosis allowed for the analysis of alterations in the bone microstructure of the femur using micro-CT. Additionally, assessments of femoral tissue and serum were conducted. The present study revealed that the administration of GF resulted in a reduction in osteoclast levels, F-actin rings, TRAP activity and pit area. Furthermore, GF showed a dose-dependent suppression of nuclear factor of activated T-cells cytoplasmic, c-Fos and other osteoclastogenesis-related markers.