Effect of YunKe on bone metabolism of patients with rheumatoid arthritis / 实用医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To evaluate the effect of YunKe on bone metabolism of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Methods A total of 108 RA patients were divided into YunKe group (n = 72), non-YunKe group (n = 36), and 54 controls. The bone mineral densities (BMDs) of the wrists, hips and lumbar spines were measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Moreover , the expression of cross-linked N-telopeptides of type I collagen (NTX) in the serum was detected for statistically analyzing the difference between YunKe group and non-YunKe group. Results In RA group, the BMDs of wrist, hip and lumbar spine declined compared with that of control group (P < 0.001, respectively). In YunKe group, the BMDs of wrist, hip and lumbar spine after 6 months all were improved with statistically significance (P < 0.01, respectively); The differences also were statistically significant when compared with those in non-YunKe group (P < 0.01, respectively). In YunKe group, NTX level in the serum declined after 3 months of the treatment. The difference was statistically significant when compared with that in non-YunKe group (P < 0.001), but the difference disappeared 6 months later. Conclusions The BMD of wrist joints is low and declines in RA patients significantly. The treatment withYunKe improves the BMDs of the wrist , hip and lumbar spine and decreases the serum NTX. This study proposed that YunKe could inhibit the chronic loss of bone mass induced by RA.