Traditional Chinese medicine regulating Wnt/β-catenin and OPG/RANKL/RANK pathways in osteoporosis: a narrative review based on bone coupling and pathological subtype differences

Background

Osteoporosis (OP) is characterized by bone coupling imbalance-insufficient osteoblast-mediated formation and excessive osteoclast-mediated resorption. Among multiple signaling networks involved in bone remodeling, the canonical Wnt/beta-catenin pathway and the osteoprotegerin/receptor activator of nuclear factor-kappaB ligand/receptor activator of nuclear factor-kappaB axis, namely the OPG/RANKL/RANK axis, were selected because they represent two central and mutually interacting regulatory systems governing osteoblast differentiation and osteoclastogenesis. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) offers multi-target potential for regulating bone homeostasis.