Research Excellence

The world is facing the challenge of population aging. Approximately one in three women and one in five men over the age of 50 worldwide are expected to suffer an osteoporotic fracture in their remaining lifetimes. Osteoporosis is a silent bone disease that reduce bone mass and increases the risk of fractures, placing a significant socioeconomic burden on society and compromising the quality of life of older adults. Cost-effective strategies for the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis are in great demand to meet the needs of the growing older population worldwide. My research focuses on identifying dietary factors and traditional Chinese medicine that might be useful for optimizing bone mass. 

The bone remodeling process is tightly regulated by numerous hormones. Deficiencies in estrogen (a sex hormone) and abnormal calcium balance (mediated by bioactive form of vitamin D) are the major causes of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women and older adults. Recent studies have demonstrated that the gut microbiome is a modulator of the actions of vitamin D and estrogen in bone, suggesting that it may be a target for optimizing bone health. Although estrogen replacement can be used to prevent and treat osteoporosis in postmenopausal women, it is associated with an increased risk of developing stroke and endometrial cancer. Vitamin D supplementation is not effective in reducing the risk of fractures in older adults, possibly due to the reduced absorption and bioactivation of vitamin D in aging. Thus, our research team is interested in the use of natural products, such as dietary factors (nutrients and phytochemicals) and Chinese medicinal herbs (bioactive fractions and ingredients), to improve bone health. We have established research platforms to investigate the vitamin D-like and estrogen-like actions of natural products in bone tissues.

Chinese herbs in classical formulas/ decoctions have historically been used for the management of bone health. However, their use is not accepted internationally, due to a lack of scientific evidence of their active ingredients, their efficacy and the mechanisms of their actions. Using an established preclinical platform, we have demonstrated the osteoprotective effects and bioactive fractions of Herba Epimedii (HEP), Drynariae fortunei (DF), Erythrina variegata (EV), Sambucus williamsii HANCE (SWH) and Fructus Ligustri Lucidi (FLL). Our work has also attracted the attention of a multinational food company and a national food company that are interested in developing functional food products and Chinese medicine products with bone protective functions. Our work received the 2012 Shenzhen Virtual University Park National Technology Project Pioneer Award from the Shenzhen Technology and Innovation Committee of the PRC and the 2014 Higher Education Outstanding Scientific Research Output Award (Science and Technology) from the Ministry of Education of the PRC. Our study of the use of SWH to enhance bone health enabled us to obtain funding for two research projects from the Innovation Technology Fund for the development of new anti-osteoporosis drugs. These projects are entitled “Research and development of a safe and effective herbal drug for postmenopausal osteoporosis” (2019–2022) and “Discovery of natural anti-osteoporotic lead compounds from microbial transformation” (2022–2023).

世界正面臨「人口老化」的巨大挑戰，預計全球50歲以上人口中，約有三分之一的女性和五分之一的男性將於晚年患上骨質疏鬆性骨折。事實上，骨質疏鬆症總是無聲無息地發生，當骨質密度降低，骨折風險便會增加，既影響老年人的健康及生活質量，也為社會帶來沉重經濟負擔。為應付全球人口老化的需求，我們需要具有成本效益的策略來預防和治療骨質疏鬆症。因此，我的研究聚焦於研發有助改善骨骼健康的膳食因素和傳統中藥。

骨骼重塑過程由多種激素緊密調控，缺乏雌激素，加上因活性維生素D調節的鈣平衡異常，都是導致更年期婦女和老年人患上骨質疏鬆症的主因。近期研究顯示，腸道菌群能在骨骼內擔任雌激素及維生素D的生物調節劑，顯示調節腸道微生物有可能是優化骨骼健康的其中一個重要標靶。儘管雌激素替代療法可用來預防及治療更年期女性的骨質疏鬆症，但它也會增加患上中風及子宮內膜癌的風險。另外，老化過程亦引致維生素D吸收率及生物活性下降，令維生素D補充劑未能降低老年人骨折風險。因此，我們的研究團隊致力以天然產物來改善骨骼健康，包括以膳食中的營養物質和植物性化合物，以及中草藥活性成分等。我們建立了相關研究平台，探討天然產物在骨骼中的類雌激素活性和類維生素D活性。

傳統古方或方劑以中草藥治療骨骼疾病由來已久，可惜由於缺乏足夠科學證據來識別活性成分、證明功效和探究作用機理，中草藥使用尚未能獲國際認可。我們通過備受認同的臨床前研究平台，展示了淫羊藿、骨碎補、刺桐、接骨木及女貞子等中草藥和其生物活性成分對骨骼的保護作用。我們的工作也引起了一些有意開發功能性食品及具護骨作用的中藥產品的跨國食品公司和國內企業關注。此外，這些工作獲得了深圳市科技創新委員會頒發的2012年深圳虛擬大學園項目先鋒獎，以及國家教育部頒發的2014年高等學校科學研究優秀成果獎 - 科技進步獎。我們的兩個使用接骨木保護骨骼健康的研究項目先後成功獲得創新及科技基金資助，用於開發治療骨質疏鬆症的新藥物，分別為“安全有效抗骨質疏鬆中藥的研究與開發”（2019-2022）以及“基於腸菌轉化的天然抗骨質疏鬆先導化合物的發現”（2022-2023）。