Abstract: The study was aimed to observe the influence of Kidney-tonifying and Blood Circulation-promoting Recipes on the level of prostaglandin E₂(PGE₂) in joint fluid and matrix metalloproteinase-1(MMP-1) in articular cartilage of osteoarthritis model SD rats, so as to investigate the protection mechanism of articular cartilage of osteoarthritis by Kidney-tonifying and Blood Circulation-promoting Recipes. Twenty-four SD rats were randomly divided into three groups， sham operation group, traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) group and western medicine group, the sham operation group was treated with normal saline, the western medicine group was treated with celebrex, the Chinese medicine group was treated with Kidney-tonifying and Blood Circulation-promoting Recipes in 4 weeks after operation. In 8 weeks after operation, rats were sacrificed, with the OARSI to evaluate the lesions of articular cartilage, observed the growth of chondrocytes by light microscopy, using immunohistochemical method for determining the content of MMP-1 in articular cartilage in 4 weeks after operation, measuring PGE₂ in the fluid in 4 and 8 weeks after operation, compared the datas of the three groups. The cartilage degeneration of sham operation group, western medicine group and TCM group reduced sequentially, observed under light microscope, there were only a small amount of cartilage cells in the sham operation group and western medicine group, and a lot of cartilage cells were seen in the TCM group. In the western medicine group, almost all layers of chondrocytes could see a lot of positive expression of MMP-1, expression of MMP-1 in TCM group and sham operation group were extremely significantly lower than that of western medicine group(P＜0.01); PGE₂ of synovial fluid in TCM group and sham operation group were significantly and extremely significantly lower than that of western medicine group(P＜0.05, P＜0.01), respectively; compared with the ones which in the 4 weeks after operation the PGE₂ of synovial fluid in TCM group and western medicine group were extremely significantly increased(P＜0.01). Kidney-tonifying and Blood Circulation-promoting Recipes could significantly inhibit the expression of MMP-1 in osteoarthritis articular cartilage and reduce the level of PGE₂ in the joint fluid, promote the growth of chondrocytes, and to slow the progression of osteoarthritis, which had the potential for the treatment of osteoarthritis.

Key words:

osteoarthritis; Kidneymso-bidi-font-family: 宋体" lang="EN-US">-tonifying and Blood Circulationmso-bidi-font-family: 宋体" lang="EN-US">-promoting Recipes; matrix metalloproteinasemso-bidi-font-family: 宋体" lang="EN-US">-1; prostaglandin E_{mso-bidi-font-size: 10.5pt" lang="EN-US">2}