Research Paper Volume 12, Issue 21 pp 21706—21729
Puerarin alleviates osteoporosis in the ovariectomy-induced mice by suppressing osteoclastogenesis via inhibition of TRAF6/ROS-dependent MAPK/NF-κB signaling pathways
Scheme 1. Schematic representation of the mechanism by which puerarin inhibits in vivo and in vitro osteoclastogenesis. RANKL induces osteoclastogenesis by binding to its receptor, RANK, thereby inducing ROS and activating the NF-κB and MAPK pathways and increased NFATc1 expression. Subsequently, the expression of osteoclast-specific genes, Ctsk, Acp5, Atp6v0d2, and Mmp9 are upregulated. Our results show that puerarin inhibits osteoclastogenesis by inhibiting intracellular ROS levels by inhibiting NOX1 and enhancing antioxidant enzymes like HO-1, subsequently inhibits the activation of the MAPK and NF-κB signaling pathways.