Potential Role of Herbal Remedies on Mesenchymal Stem Cells: An Overview of New Therapeutic Strategies for Osteoporosis

Abstract

Worldwide, osteoporosis（OP）affects more than 200 million people, and as people get older, the disease is more common. It is anticipated that by 2025, aging country populations will increase the prevalence by as much as 50%. Osteoporosis is a degenerative skeletal condition that causes decreased bone mass and degeneration of the bone microstructure, which raises the risk of fracture and increases bone fragility. The irreversible nature of bone loss in the body makes osteoporosis a difficult illness for doctors to treat. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), a multipotential cell with the capacity to self-renew and specialize into a number of cell types, are currently the source of preference for cell-based therapies due to their crucial role in tissue repair and synthetic biology. Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) have long been employed in both preclinical and clinical research to treat osteoporosis. Even while new transplantation therapies using mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are promising, they are also expensive and urgent issues need to be resolved about their safety, transplantation effectiveness, and standardization of manufacturing techniques. Indeed, naturally occurring phytochemical substances (herbs) offer significant anti-inflammatory, pro-differentiation, and tissue regeneration potential, and the differentiation, migration, and immunomodulatory capabilities of MSCs treated with herbal extracts show promise in diseases like osteoporosis, neurological diseases, and other tissue degenerative disorders. In the creation of novel therapeutic approaches by MSCs for the treatment of osteoporosis illnesses, they have attracted a lot of interest. In this article, we summarize the most recent findings on herbal extracts' effects on MSCs differentiation, migration, immunosuppression, and epigenetic regulation as well as potential mechanisms of action. Additionally, based on the yin-yang theory of Chinese traditional medicine, we did a thorough analysis of the molecular phenotypic variations between yin and yang in osteoporosis with the goal of improving guidance on the pathophysiology and clinical application of osteoporosis.