Alleviation of Dexamethasone-induced Inhibition of Bone Formation by Salidroside

Abstract

Salidroside is a natural compound found in the plant Rhodiola rosea. It has been the subject of scientific research due to its potential health benefits. Xie and colleagues investigated the effect of salidroside on dexamethasone-induced inhibition of bone formation and found that it may alleviate this inhibition. The study investigated whether salidroside could counteract the inhibitory effects of dexamethasone on bone formation. The researchers focused on the TGF-β/Smad2/3 signaling pathway, which plays a crucial role in regulating bone metabolism.  Salidroside increased the expression of osteopontin (OPN), runt-related transcription factor 2 (Runx2), osterix (Osx), transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) proteins and promoted the phosphorylation of Smad2/3 in MC3T3-E1 cells treated with dexamethasone. The results of the study demonstrated that salidroside treatment mitigated the dexamethasone-induced inhibition of osteogenic differentiation and bone formation. Salidroside was found to promote the activation of the TGF-β/Smad2/3 signaling pathway, which is involved in bone formation and remodeling processes. Phytother Res. 2023 May;37(5):1938-1950.  doi: 10.1002/ptr.7711.