BACKGROUND: Paeonol is an active ingredient of traditional orthopedic drugs, exhibiting pain easing, detumescence and promotion of bone healing. The brushite calcium phosphate cement possesses good biocompatibility, which can be completely degraded in the body. A large number of studies have addressed the modification of brushite calcium phosphate cement to make it more suitable for clinical applications. OBJECTIVE: To study the setting time, syringeability, compressive strength, drug delivery ability, antibacterial property and cell affinity of brushite calcium phosphate cement with the addition of paeonol. METHODS: The tricalcium phosphate was synthesized by calcium nitrate and diammonium hydrogen phosphate, followed by being calcined into β-tricalcium phosphate at 1 000 ℃. Chitosan was dissolved in citric acid solution to prepare the liquid phase. The composite bone cement was prepared by mixing paeonol, β-tricalcium phosphate and monocalcium phosphate with the liquid phase. The setting time, syringeability, phase composition, anti-collapsibility, compressive strength, degradation property, drug delivery ability, antibacterial property and cell affinity of the composite bone cement in vitro were evaluated. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The setting time of bone cement was 12-17 minutes, which was prolonged with the increase of paeonol release. Moreover, the loaded paeonol showed no significant effect on the phase composition, syringeability, anti-collapsibility, and compressive strength of the compound. However, the degradation rate and drug release content were significantly enhanced with the increase of paeonol release.The inhibition zone experiments showed that the paeonol loaded cement inhibited the growth of Escherichia coli, but was not sensitive to Staphylococcus aureus.HepG2 cells could adhere and proliferate on the material surface after 3 days co-culture,with clear cell pseudopodia arising from the cell surface under the scanning electron microscope.