Low concentration flufenamic acid enhances osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells and suppresses bone loss by inhibition of the NF-κB signaling pathway

BACKGROUND: As the representative of fenamic acids, an important group of NSAIDs, flufenamic acid (FFA) has been used for anti-inflammation and analgesia in the clinic. Recently, researches have focused on the role of some members of NSAIDs in promoting osteogenesis. However, little attention has been paid to the subgroup of fenamic acids, and it remains unclear whether FFA and other fenamic acids could regulate mesenchymal stem cells’ (MSCs) lineage commitment and bone regeneration. METHODS: Here we treated two kinds of human MSCs with FFA at different concentrations in vitro and examined the effect of FFA on osteogenic differentiation of human MSCs. This was followed by heterotopic bone formation assay in nude mice. In addition, ovariectomized and aged mice were used as osteoporotic models to test the effect of FFA on osteoporosis. Besides, activators and inhibitor of nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) signaling pathway and western blot were used to clarify the mechanism of the promoting effect of low concentration FFA on osteogenesis. RESULTS: Our results indicated that low concentrations of FFA could significantly enhance osteogenic differentiation of human MSCs in vitro, as well as in vivo. In addition, FFA treatment suppressed bone loss in ovariectomized and aged mice. Mechanistically, FFA at low concentrations promoted osteogenesis differentiation of human MSCs by inhibition of the NF-κB signaling pathway. CONCLUSIONS: Collectively, our study suggested that low concentration FFA could be used in bone tissue engineering or osteoporosis by promoting osteogenic differentiation of human MSCs. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s13287-019-1321-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.