Objective To observe the clinical efficacy of Xiaoyusan simplified plaster in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis and the significance of intervention in cartilage metabolism.Methods Totally 105 patients with knee osteoarthritis were divided into Xiaoyusan simplified prescription group,Xiaoyusan group and diclofenac diethylamine group according to random number table method.Xiaoyusan simplified prescription group:Apply it to the swollen and painful area,covering the entire lesion area,and change the dressing every 24 hours;Xiaoyusan group:Apply it to the swollen and painful area,covering the entire lesion area,and change the dressing every 24 hours;diclofenac diethylamine group:Apply evenly to the swollen and painful area,3 times a day;all the groups were treated for 2 courses(4 weeks).The changes of VAS score,WOMAC score,knee joint activity and the content of cartilage metabolism index HA,type Ⅱ collagen,COMP and CTX-Ⅱ before and after treatment were compared.Safety indicators of the three groups were monitored.Results The total effective rates of Xiaoyusan simplified plaster group and Xiaoyusan group were all over 97.1%(33/34),better than the diclofenac diethylamine group(81.8%,27/33),with statistical significance in the three groups(P<0.05).Xiaoyusan simplified plaster group and Xiaoyusan group were superior to diclofenac diethylamine group in VAS score,WOMAC score,sitting-standing 5 times time(P<0.05);Xiaoyusan simplified plaster group and Xiaoyusan group were superior to diclofenac diethylamine group in delaying the decrease of HA content and the increase of COMP content,with statistical significance(P<0.05).After treatment,there was no significant difference in VAS score,WOMAC score,knee joint activity and bone metabolism index content between Xiaoyusan simplified plaster group and Xiaoyusan group(P>0.05).The blood routine,urine routine,liver function,kidney function and electrocardiogram examinations before and after treatment in the three groups were all normal.Conclusion Xiaoyusan simplified plaster has the same efficacy as Xiaoyusan,which can reduce the pain of knee osteoarthritis patients,increase the knee joint activity and daily living ability of patients,and delay the cartilage injury metabolism.

ObjectiveTo study the effect of Xiaoyusan new formula on the articular cartilage of knee osteoarthritis (KOA) rabbits and its mechanism. MethodsA total of 42 New Zealand white rabbits aged 6 months were randomly divided into normal group, model group, ointment of Xiaoyusan group, and ointment of Xiaoyusan new formula group, with 10 rabbits in each group (the other 2 rabbits were used for model validation). Except for the normal group, the right knee joints of all rabbits in the other groups were prepared as KOA models according to the modified Hulth method. After 5 weeks of molding, the rabbits in ointment of Xiaoyusan group, ointment of Xiaoyusan New Formula group were given corresponding ointments for knee arthritis treatment, once a day, each time for 10 hours. After 2-week continuous administration and treatment, the knee joint cartilage of the four groups of rabbits was taken and the cartilage damage of each group was evaluated by Outerbridge grading method. The pathological changes of the cartilage, calcified layer and subchondral bone of the knee joint of rabbits in each group were observed by HE staining method under the light microscope, and the degree of cartilage degeneration was evaluated by Mankin's method. The expression of matrix metalloproteinase-13 (MMP-13) in the cartilage of rabbit knee joint in each group was deteced by immunohistochemistry. Results After the general observation of articular cartilage, the Outerbridge grading showed that the number of high-grade animals in ointment of Xiaoyusan group was reduced compared with the model group (P<0.05), and the number of high-grade animals in ointment of Xiaoyusan new formula group was also reduced (P<0.05) compared with ointment of Xiaoyusan group. HE staining showed that Mankin's scores of articular cartilage in the four groups ranked from high to low: model group (10.82±1.76), ointment of Xiaoyusan group (6.19±1.23), ointment of Xiaoyusan new formula group (2.64±1.18) and normal group (0.28±0.17). The difference among four groups was statistically significant (P<0.05). Immunohistochemical detection showed that the positive rates of MMP-13 expression in rabbit articular cartilage tissues in each group were (67.90±13.94)% of model group, (37.10±19.16)% of ointment of Xiaoyusan group, (13.60±3.10)% of ointment of Xiaoyusan new formula group and (3.20±2.39) % of normal group, ranking from high to low, and the difference among four groups was statistically significant (P<0.05). ConclusionXiaoyusan new formula can repair articular cartilage degeneration in KOA rabbits and decrease the expression of MMP-13 in cartilage, which may be one of the mechanisms of the treatment.