RESUMO
BACKGROUND:Meta-analysis results have shown that Duhuojisheng Decoction can improve the symptoms and relieve the pain of patients with knee osteoarthritis, but the mechanism and pathway are not very clear.OBJECTIVE:To further verify the curative effect of Duhuojisheng Decoction for primary knee osteoarthritis in macaca fascicularis. METHODS: Under natural conditions, 6 clean young macaca fascicularis (aged 3-5 years, normal group) and 6 elderly macaca fascicularis (aged more than 20 years, model group) were selected from 24 macaca fascicularis. The models of primary knee osteoarthritis were established in the model group,then aged animals were randomly divided into control and intervention(given the treatment of Duhuojisheng Decoction) groups. The number of whole blood leukocytes, C-reactive protein, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, properties of the joint fluid and expression level of tumor necrosis factor-α were compared between the control and intervention groups. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The aged macaca fascicularis was characterized by a typical osteoarthritis similar to human. Treatment with Duhuojisheng Decoction significantly down-regulated the expression level of tumor necrosis factor-α and significantly reduced the levels of whole blood leukocytes, and C-reactive protein. Our results suggest that the aged macaca fascicularis model of primary knee osteoarthritis is an effective animal model to simulate the occurrence and development of human primary knee osteoarthritis.Duhuojisheng decoction alleviates the progression of primary knee osteoarthritis probably by inhibiting the expression level of tumor necrosis factor-α and decreasing the levels of inflammatory factors in the articular cartilage. Additionally, the levels of whole blood leukocytes and C-reactive protein are important parameters for the prediction of curative effects.