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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Experimental Pharmacology and Drug Discovery
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1508971
This article is part of the Research Topic Pharmacological Mechanisms of Drugs Affecting Bone Formation and Bone Resorption Volume II View all 14 articles

Potential Efficacy and Mechanisms of Icariin for Animal Model of Osteonecrosis of the Femoral Head

Provisionally accepted
Jie Xu Jie Xu Wei Deng Wei Deng Xun Zhu Xun Zhu Deyu Han Deyu Han Yu Zheng Yu Zheng Qun Zheng Qun Zheng *
  • Second Affiliated Hospital and Yuying Children's Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Icariin (ICA), one of the main active components of Epimediumis, is reported to reverse osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH). The objective of this study is to delve deeper into the mechanisms and effectiveness of ICA in animal models of ONFH, while simultaneously analyzing methodological issues in the field of researches. According to the established search strategy, we searched 14 studies across eight databases from their inception dates to November 2024. The CAMARADES 10-item checklist was utilized to evaluate the methodological quality of the studies and Rev-Man 5.3 software was employed to analyze differences in outcome indicators. The quality scores of the included articles range from 1/10 to 6/10 with an average score of 4.5 .The scoring results suggest that the deficiencies in the blinding assessment of outcome, randomization and sample size calculation are the main losing points. Compared with the control group, 10 studies reported that ICA could partially improve bone pathology, including reducing the empty of bone lacunae, maturing osteoblasts of ONFH and decreasing chondroid bone matrix and fibrous connective tissue. Eight studies indicated that ICA could improve bone-related parameters under imageology including F-BMD, Tb.N, Tb.Th, BV/TV and Tb. Sp. The preclinical systematic review provided preliminary evidence that ICA partially reversed ONFH in animal models probably via promoting angiogenesis, anti-apoptosis, and regulating the activities of osteoblasts and osteoclasts. Randomization, blinding and sample size calculation should be focused on of ONFH research in the future. These findings suggest that ICA is a potential candidate for further clinical trials of ONFH.

    Keywords: Icariin, Osteonecrosis of the femoral head, efficacy, mechanisms, methodology

    Received: 10 Oct 2024; Accepted: 15 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Xu, Deng, Zhu, Han, Zheng and Zheng. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Qun Zheng, Second Affiliated Hospital and Yuying Children's Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.