Abstract:

BACKGROUND: Acupuncture or intra-articular injection with western medicine both can effectively treat osteoarthritis, but the therapeutic effect of acupuncture and intra-articular injection with traditional Chinese drug treating osteoarthritis is rarely reported.
OBJECTIVE: To explore the effect of intra-articular injection with paeonol and acupuncture at Zusanli (ST36) on interleukin 1β (IL-1β) and tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) in serum of rabbit’s knee osteoarthritis model.
METHODS: Rabbit models of knee osteoarthritis were randomly divided into five groups: normal group (without treatment), model group, paeonol group, acupuncture group and paeonol+acupuncture group. The last four groups were made by intra-articular injection with papain. The model group was without treatment. The paeonol group was treated with the intra-articular injection with paeonol, once a week, a total of 5 times. The acupuncture group was treated with acupuncture of rabbit bilateral Zusanli, once a day and a total of 29 times. The paeonol+acupuncture group was treated with the intra-articular injection with paeonol, once time a week, a total of 5 times, and the acupuncture Zusanli was performed at the same time, once a day and a total of 29 times. The content of IL-1β and TNF-α in serum were measured after treatment.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The contents of IL-1β and TNF-α in paeonol group, acupuncture group and paeonol+acupuncture group were lower than those in model group (P < 0.05) but higher than those in normal group (P < 0.05). However, the contents of IL-1β and TNF-α in paeonol+acupuncture group were lower than those in paeonol group and acupuncture group (P < 0.05). It was considered that intra-articular injection with paeonol and acupuncture Zusanli could significantly degrade the content of IL-1β and TNF-α in serum and inhibit the damage effect of IL-1β and TNF-α on articular cartilage which could potentially delay the degeneration of joint cartilage.