Abstract: Objectives: To study the effect of panaxnotoginseng saponins (PNS) on the alveolar bone remodeling and the expression of BMP-2 in rabbit periodontal tissues during orthodontic teeth movement. Methods: Thirty-two 3-6-month-old male New Zealand white rabbits were casually divided into two groups: PNS group and control group, which were injected with xueshaungtong and normal saline by intramuscular injection. Each group was divided into 7, 14, 21, and 28 days four subgroups, respectively. The rabbits in each group were sacrificed to obtain mandibular tooth specimens after 1, 2, 3, and 4 weeks. The changes of periodontal ligament and alveolar bone were observed by hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining. Tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) staining was used to detect osteoclasts numbers. Immunohistochemical (IHC) staining was used to detect the expression of BMP-2 in periodontal tissues of the teeth. Results: The numbers of osteoclasts in the PNS group reached a peak at the 1st week, and then declined in the 2nd week. There was no significant difference between PNS group and NS group in the 3rd week. The expression of BMP-2 in PNS group was higher than that in NS group (P<0.05) in the 1st week, and reached the peak in the 2 nd week. The expression of BMP-2 was continued to decline in the 3 rd and 4th week, and there was no significant difference between PNS group and NS group. Conclusion: Panaxnot-oginseng saponins can increase the number of osteoclasts in periodontal tissues and increase the expression of BMP-2 in periodontal tissues,which suggests that PNS has a positive effect on the alveolar bone remodeling during teeth movement.

Key words: Panaxnotoginseng saponins, Bone morphogenetic protein-2, Movement of teeth, Osteoclasts