The Clinical And Experiment Study Of GuiZhi FuZi Decoetion In The Treatment Of Rheumatoid Arthritis

This study is divided into two parts: Clinical and experimental studies.Clinical Research: Clinical Observation on Guizhi Fuzi Decoction intreating Rheumatoid Arthritis with Shenxu Hanning Syndrome.Objective: Observe Guizhi Fuzi Decoction in the treatment of rheumatoidarthritis clinical efficacy. To explore the advantages of integrative medicine forRheumatoid Arthritis (RA).Methods: This clinical study was designed as a randomized controlled trial,61patients were randomly divided into two groups: treatment group(n=31) and controlgroup (n=30). Patients in control group were taken methotrexate tablets orally(10mg/week) and diclofenac (25mg Tid) to relieve pain when it’s necessary. Patients intreatment group were given Guizhi Fuzi Decoetion (2times/day), and the usage ofdiclofenac is the same as the treatment group.Treatment last for two months. Clinicalsymptoms, changes signs (duration of morning stiffness, joint tenderness, swollenjoint index, hands mean grip strength) and laboratory parameters were all observedbefore and after treatment, and then clinical efficacy was evaluated after treatment.Results:1.There was significant difference between two groups in totalefficacy(P<0.05), Guizhi Fuzi decoetion group was better than the control group.2.After treatment, tender joint count, swollen joint count, duration of morningstiffness, hands mean grip strength, ESR, CRP, RF and related clinical symptomsimproved significantly in both groups, the difference was statistically significant (P<0.01).3.Compared with the control group, RA patients’ joint tenderness, joint swelling,duration of morning stiffness, grip strength, ESR, CRP and symptoms in Guizhi Fuzi decoction group improved significantly (P<0.05).Conclusions: Guizhi Fuzi decoction combined with western medicine cansignificantly improve RA patients’ joint tenderness, joint swelling, duration ofmorning stiffness, grip strength, ESR, CRP and has specific advantages than westernmedicine, which deserve further study.Experimental Study: The Effect on the Cytokines of Rheumatoid Arthritisby the Treatment of Guizhi Fuzi Warm Meridians compatibility.Objective: To observe the Guizhi Fuzi Warm meridians compatibility’sinfluence on the concentration of TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6in the CIA rats, explore theaction mechanism of Guizhi Fuzi Warm meridians compatibility on rheumatoidarthritis.Methods:10rats were randomly selected from70male Wistar rats as controlgroup，the left60rats were adopted type Ⅱ collagen-induced autoimmune arthritis.Autoimmune arthritis rats were randomly divided by rating and started to beintragastric administration last for21days. TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6activity in theCIA rat model were deected by the Enzyme-linked immunoadsordent assay (Elisa),the arthritis index, rearfoot volume and pathological changes of the ankle joint wereobserved after intervention.Results: After the treatment of Guizhi Fuzi warm meridians compatibility,rats’s arthritis score and toes volume had differently reduced. Compared with thecontrol group，TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6were significantly higher in the model group (P<0.01). Compared with the model group, TNF-α, IL-6in the treatment group had alower expression(P <0.05or P<0.01), while effects on IL-1β is not obvious.Conclusions: Guizhi Fuzi warm meridians compatibility is able to improvewind musculoskeletal CIA rats arthritis index and foot swelling. Guizhi Fuzi warmmeridians compatibility can decrease TNF-α, IL-6which rise abnormally in serum,and it can cause the inhibition of inflammatory infiltration and joint destruction.This may be one of mechanisms which cure RA.