Study on the correlation between the salt-roast processing and the anti-osteoporosis efficacy of Qing'e Pill

OBJECTIVE To study the salt-roast processing on Qing'e pill warming kidney and strong bones efficacy. The traditional Chinese medicine theory revealed that salt-roast medicines can lead to drug to kidney meridian， enhance the effect of warming kidney and activate yang. This research studied the different methods processed Qing’e Pill on ovariectomy (OVX) induced osteoporosis in rats， and to explore the mechanism of the antiosteoporotic effects of Qing’e Pill on osteoporosis． METHODS After OVX rats oral administrating of the Qing’e Pill with the combination of crude and salt-roast medicines at the dose of 0.9g/day for 12 weeks， the BMD of rat left femur metaphysis was determined by using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and the bone turnover makers in serum were measured to evaluate anti-osteoporosis effect of different processed Qing'e pill. In addtion， the trabecular microstructure of femoral metaphyseal was analyzed by Micro-CT scanning and HE staining. RESULTS Treating with Qing'e pill suppressed weight growth of ovariectomized induced rats fat gain， increased uterine weight， and no significant difference was observed between crude and salt-roast Qing'e pill treatment groups. It also increased the rat femur BMD， and improved the density of trabecular bone and protected the trabecular bone from damage caused by ovariectomy. And all results showed that the treatment of salt-roast processing Qing'e pill is better than crude Qing'e pill. Meanwhile， the crude and salt-roast Qing'e pill treatment did not cause lesions in the rat uterus. CONCLUSION Qing'e pill may have a good therapeutic effect for the treatment of osteoporosis rats induced by ovariectomy and after salt-roast processing the anti-osteoporosis efficacy of Qing'e pill was significantly enhanced. Both crude and salt-roast Qing'e pill treatment will not cause uterine lesions within suitable therapeutic dose range.