In Vitro Bone Formation Inducing Activity of Selected Thai Traditional Formulations for the Promotion of Women’s Health

Abstract

In Thai traditional medicine, there are a number of formulations for the promotion of women’s health. We investigated the effects of the aqueous and ethanolic extracts of two selected multiple-plant formulations, i.e., blood tonic for women’s health (YHA1 and YHA2), on bone formation by assessing the effects of these formulations on the proliferation, differentiation and mineralization of MC3T3-E1 osteoblast-like cells. The aqueous and ethanolic extracts of the two selected multiple-plant formulations at a concentration of 7.8 µg/ml significantly stimulated cell proliferation. This study is the first to demonstrate the positive bone formation effects of these Thai traditional formulations, which will be useful for further in vivo and in clinical studies.