Given the success of Research Topic
The Potential Effects and Mechanisms of Chinese Traditional Medicine on Bone Homeostasis and Remodeling and the rapidly evolving subject area, we are pleased to announce the launch of Volume II.
Osteoporosis is a systemic skeletal disease, strongly affecting postmenopausal women and characterized by an increased risk of bone fragility and a decrease in bone mass. Bone homeostasis requires a balance between bone-forming osteoblasts and bone-resorbing osteoclasts. When this balance is impaired, normal bone remodeling cannot keep bone mass stable, leading to osteopenia and osteoporosis. About 30–50% of all women in the world suffer from fractures due to osteoporosis throughout their lives. The treatments include improving metabolic abnormalities through complementary and alternative therapies, drug application and surgical therapy for the management of overweight, obesity and hormone metabolism disorder.
Chinese traditional medicine has been increasingly considered as an effective therapy for osteoporosis. A series of formulae, herbs and natural products have been indicated for their effects in the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis, such as Liu-Wei-Di-Huang Wan (formula), Morindae Officinalis Radix (herb), Longspur epimedium glycoside (natural product). However, the mechanisms of action remain largely unexplored.
Traditional Chinese medicine is unique in its therapeutic method in that it is commonly adopted as a combination with multiple herbs in the treatment of diseases. Even when a herb is applied, it could have multiple active components. With its multi-target approach and multi-component characteristics, this can be seen as an advantage of traditional Chinese medicine to treat chronic diseases, but controversial at the same time, as its mechanism of action is not always clear. Moreover, multi-components interaction and uncertain components could contribute to potential toxicity. The adoption of systems biology methods, especially the rapid development of omics technology, may help to explore the mechanism of action of Chinese medicine, thus providing references for the optimization of decision-making and the expansion of clinical applications.
This Research Topic will focus on the effect and mechanism of Chinese traditional medicine on bone homeostasis and remodeling. We seek evidence-based bone homeostasis and bone remodeling in animal models, investigating the mechanisms at cellular levels including bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells, adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells, osteoblast, osteoclast, endothelial cell and immune cells. Omics, including metabolomics, transcriptomics and proteomics, are becoming more vital in solving the above challenges of multi-component and multi-target interactions characteristic of Chinese traditional medicine and we welcome submissions incorporating these approaches, especially where resultant larger datasets are adequately contextualized by clearly defined, specific research questions. Moreover, evidence-based clinical studies of Chinese traditional medicine on osteoporosis are welcomed.
