Abstract

Background: Plant  flavonoids  are  emerging  as  potent  therapeutic  drugs  effective  against  a  wide  range  of aging  diseases  particularly  bone  metabolic  disorders.  Morin  (3,5,7,20,40-pentahydroxyflavone),  a  member  of  flavonols,  is  an  important  bioactive  compound  by interacting  with  nucleic  acids,  enzymes  and  protein.  The  present  study  was  designed  to investigate the putative beneficial effect of morin on diabetic osteopenia in rats. Methods:Streptozotocin  (STZ)-induced  diabetic  model  was  used  by  considering  300  mg/dl  fasting glucose level as diabetic. Morin (15 and 30 mg/kg) was treated for five consecutive weeks to diabetic  rats.  Serum  levels  of glucose,  insulin,  deoxypyridinoline  cross  links  (DPD), osteocalcin (OC), bone specific alkaline phosphatase (BALP), telopeptides of collagen type I (CTX), interleukin 1 beta (IL-1β), interleukin 6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), thiobarbituric  acid  reactive  substance  (TBARS)  and  reduced  glutathione  (GSH)  were estimated. Femoral bones were taken for micro CT scan to measure trabecular bone mineral density (BMD) and other morphometric parameters.