Mechanism ofitalic Xinfeng Capsule/italic （新风胶囊） in regulating the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway to alleviate inflammation and bone metabolism disorder in osteoarthritis rats

Key Points

• Investigate how Xinfeng Capsule affects inflammation and bone metabolism via the PI3K/AKT pathway in osteoarthritis rats.
• Used 64 SD rats divided into 8 groups: control, model, XFC at low, medium, high doses, celecoxib, SC79, and XFC-H with SC79.
• Osteoarthritis was induced in all but control group using collagenase.
• Histological analysis of cartilage using specific staining methods.
• Serum biomarkers were measured using ELISA for various cytokines and proteins.
• Western blot analysis was used to detect PI3K, p-PI3K, AKT, p-AKT expression in cartilage.
• Model group showed increased inflammatory markers IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α, TGF-β1, TRACP-5b, and decreased OPG, BALP, IGF-1 compared to control.
• XFC treatment significantly reduced inflammatory markers and restored OPG, BALP, and IGF-1 levels compared to model group.
• SC79 treatment showed worse inflammation and cartilage damage compared to XFC-induced improvements.