Monotropein isolated from the roots of Morinda officinalis increases osteoblastic bone formation and prevents bone loss in ovariectomized mice.

Monotropein is a natural iridoid glycoside enriched in Morinda officinalis and has been used for medicinal purposes in China. In the present study, we systematically examined its effects on ovariectomy (OVX)-induced osteoporosis in mice and osteoblastic MC3T3-E1 cells for the first time. Eight-week-old female C57/BL6 mice were used to evaluate the osteoprotective effect of monotropein. Results showed that administration of monotropein (40 or 80 mg/kg/day) for four weeks exerted good bone protective effects as evidenced by the increase of bone mineral content (BMC), bone mineral density (BMD), bone volume fraction (BVF) and improvement of bone microstructure. Monotropein also enhanced the parameters of biomechanical properties, including maximum load, maximum stress and elastic modulus of femur in OVX mice. In addition, monotropein treatment decreased the serum levels of interleukin 1 (IL-1), interleukin 6 (IL-6) and soluble receptor activator of NF-κB ligand (sRANKL) in OVX mice. In this study, we also assessed the effects of monotropein on the proliferation and differentiation of osteoblastic MC3T3-E1 cells in vitro. After incubation for 48h, the cell proliferation was increased at the concentration of 10 μM, 25 μM, 50 μM and 100 μM. ALP activities were significantly increased after treatment with monotropein for 72h. Quantitative analyses with alizarin red staining showed significantly increased mineralization of MC3T3-E1 cells after treatment with monotropein for 28 days. Based on these results, monotropein may serve as a new candidate or a leading compound for antiosteoporosis.