Experience of Professor Fan Yongsheng in treating arthralgia with insect drugs / 中国中药杂志

National-level famous traditional Chinese medicine( TCM) doctor Professor Fan Yong-sheng has high-level accomplishments in the treatment of arthralgia. According to clinical diagnosis and dialectic,TCM with appropriate medicinal properties were flexibly applied,with a remarkable efficacy. Especially in the application of insect drugs,he has accumulated abundant clinical experience.According to the main syndromes of arthralgia and pathogenic site,patient' s constitution,Scorpio,Scolopendra,Pheretima,Vespae Nidus,Bombyx Batryticatus,Manis Squama,Bungarus Parvus,Zaocys,Agkistrodon,Cicadae Periostracum,Aspongopus,Eupolyphaga Steleophaga,Silkworm Sand were properly selected. Attention was also paid to the compatibility between insect drugs and antirheumatic drugs,blood-activating drugs and tonifying drugs. In the premise of safe and effective application in the treatment of arthralgia,insect drugs show such efficacies as antipyretic,activating collaterals and relieving pain.

Peri-articular lymphatic system and "Bi" theory of Chinese medicine in the pathogenesis and treatment of arthritis / 中国结合医学杂志

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and osteoarthritis (OA) are the two most common joint diseases, and they have characterization of synovial inflammation and cartilage destruction, associated with the accumulation of numerous catabolic mediators and inflammatory cells in the synovial space and surrounding soft tissues. How these factors are cleared and if the "clearance" process contributes to pathogenesis of arthritis are not known. Recently, we found the existence of the peri-articular lymphatic system in mouse joints. The blockade of lymphangiogenesis and lymphatic draining function accelerates while stimulation of lymphatic function attenuates the severity of joint tissue lesions in mouse models of RA and OA. More importantly, we noticed the similarity between the dysfunction of lymphatic drainage in arthritic joints and "Bi" theory of Chinese medicine (CM), and demonstrated that several Bi disease-treated herbal drugs directly affect the function of lymphatic endothelial cells. Here we review the advances about the interactions between joint inflammation and changes in the peri-articular lymphatic system and discuss our view of linking "Bi" theory of CM to lymphatic dysfunction in arthritis.