绝经后骨质疏松（postmenopausal osteoporosis ，PMO）是严重威胁我国中老年妇女健康的常见骨代谢性疾病。PMO 可诱导或加重绝经妇女牙周炎性骨吸收，为其临床防治提出了挑战。课题组前期研究发现，黄连素灌胃对卵巢切除（ovariectomy，OVX）大鼠牙周炎性骨吸收具有明显抑制作用，黄连素可显著影响OVX牙周炎大鼠肠道菌群组成，并对口腔菌群无明显影响，提示黄连素可能通过调控肠道菌群功能，参与调控雌激素缺乏背景下的牙周炎性骨吸收。目前关于黄连素对雌激素缺乏背景下肠道菌群的作用模式，及其参与调控牙周炎性骨吸收的机制尚不清楚。本项目拟通过OVX大鼠牙周炎模型，深入分析黄连素对肠道菌群组成与功能、肠道黏膜屏障、全身炎症反应及牙周炎性骨吸收的影响，阐明黄连素防治雌激素缺乏背景下的牙周炎性骨吸收的作用与相关机制。研究结果有望为雌激素缺乏背景下牙周炎的防治提供新的思路与途径。

PMO (postmenopausal osteoporosis) is a common bone metabolic disease and a serious danger to the health of postmenopausal women. Clinic researches show that PMO could aggravate postmenopausal periodontitis. In preliminary experiment,we found berberine gavage administration could inhibit bone resorption from periodontitis in OVX (ovariectomy) rat, however have no impact on the periodontitis bone resorption in Sham rat. In addition, berberine gavage administration had no effect on the oral microflora, but could change the composition and structure of intestinal microflora. All the previous results hint that berberine could inhibit periodontitis bone resorption through intestinal microflora regulation. But the mechanism is still not clear. This study will evaluate the preventive and therapeutic effect of berberine on the periodontitis of PMO by animal model. The composition and structure of intestinal microflora, the intestinal barrier and the Osteoclast related factors will be tested for further investigation of the mechanism of how berberine regulates bone resorption of periodontitis. This study will deepen the knowledge of the relationship between intestinal microflora and systemic metabolic disease, and help to provide new preventive and therapeutic option for the periodontitis of PMO.