The licorice root derived isoflavan glabridin increases the function of osteoblastic MC3T3-E1 cells

• Published in: Biochemical pharmacology 2005-08, Vol.70 (3), p.363-368
• Main Author: Choi, Eun-Mi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Cell Line; Cell Survival - drug effects; Cell Survival - physiology; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Glabridin; Glycyrrhiza; Glycyrrhiza glabra; Isoflavones - isolation & purification; Isoflavones - pharmacology; Medical sciences; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Osteoblastic MC3T3-E1 cells; Osteoblasts - drug effects; Osteoblasts - physiology; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; Phenols - isolation & purification; Phenols - pharmacology; Plant Roots
• ISSN: 0006-2952; 1873-2968
• DOI: 10.1016/j.bcp.2005.04.019

Glabridin, an isoflavan purified from licorice root, exhibits diverse biological activities, including estrogen-like activity. To investigate the bioactivities of glabridin, which act on bone metabolism, the effects of glabridin on the function of mouse osteoblastic cell line (MC3T3-E1) and the production of local factors in osteoblasts were studied. Glabridin (1–10 μM) significantly increased the growth of MC3T3-E1 cells and caused a significant elevation of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity, collagen content and osteocalcin secretion in the cells ( P < 0.05). The effect of glabridin (10 μM) in increasing ALP activity and collagen content was completely prevented by the presence of 10 −6 M cycloheximide and 10 −6 M tamoxifen, suggesting that glabridin's effect results from a newly synthesized protein component and might be partly involved in estrogen action. Then, the effects of glabridin on the TNF-α-induced apoptosis and production of prostaglandin E 2 (PGE 2) and nitric oxide (NO) in osteoblasts were examined. Treatment with glabridin (1–10 μM) prevented apoptosis induced by TNF-α (10 −10 M) in osteoblastic cells. Moreover, glabridin (50 μM) decreased the 10 −10 M TNF-α-induced production of PGE 2 and NO in osteoblasts. Our data indicate that the enhancement of osteoblast function by glabridin may result in the prevention for osteoporosis and inflammatory bone diseases.