Objective To explore the value of MR T2 mapping imaging in evaluation of the effection of Zhitong-Jiangu recipes in treatment of cartilage injury in osteoarthritis.Methods The models of osteoarthritis in the knee of New Zealand white rabbits were made with intra-articular injection of papain.Totally 48 New Zealand white rabbits were randomly divided into normal control group,model control group,glucosamine hydrochloride treatment group and Zhitong-Jiangu recipes treatment group.MR T2 mapping was performed on the knee and the content of MMP-1 in articular cartilage was analyzed with immunohistochemistry 4 weeks after treatment.The differences of T2 value and MMP-1 content of articular cartilage among the four groups were compared.The correlation among the different intervention methods,MMP-1 content of articular cartilage and the T2 value of articular cartilage were analyzed.Results T2 value of articular cartilage in the model control group was significantly higher than that in the other three groups (all P＜0.01),and there was no significant difference of T2 value among the other three groups.The MMP-1 content of articular cartilage in glucosamine hydrochloride treatment group and Zhitong-Jiangu recipes treatment group was lower than that in model control group (both P＜0.05),and was higher than that in normal control group (both P＜0.05).There was no significant difference between the two groups.The relationship between MMP-1 content and T2 value of articular cartilage was nonlinear.With the increase of MMP-1 content,T2 value first increased slowly and then increased rapidly (P＜0.05).Conclusion MR T2 mapping imaging is helpful to evaluating the efficacy of Zhitong-Jiangu recipes in treatment of cartilage injury in osteoarthritis in rabbit models.The relationship between MMP-1 content and T2 value of articular cartilage may be nonlinear.