ObjectiveTo investigate the effect and possible mechanism of Huatuo Fengtongbao Tablets on cartilage tissue injury in osteoarthritis rats. MethodsSix-week-old SD rats were randomly divided into sham-operated group, model group, positive group, high-dose group, and low-dose group. The rats in the sham-operated group were directly sutured after opening the knee joint cavities. The rats in the other groups were treated with anterior cruciate ligament resection to prepare rat models of knee osteoarthritis. 10 surviving rats were taken from each group for subsequent experiments. The rats in the positive group were treated with Zhuanggu joint pills. The rats in the high-dose group were treated with Huatuo Fengtongbao Tablets 18 g/kg, and the rats in the low-dose group were treated with Huatuo Fengtongbao Tablets 4.5 g/kg. The rats in the model group and the sham-operated group were given distilled water by gavage. Rats in each group were continuously administered (treated) for 8 weeks. The cartilage tissue morphology of knee joints of rats in each group was observed, and the knee joints cartilage tissue morphology of rats in each group was observed under a microscope with Safranin O-fast green staining. The serum levels of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-13 were compared in each group after treatment. The levels of TNF-α, MMP-13, sex-determining region Y box 9 (SOX9) and type Ⅱ collagen (Collagen Ⅱ), as well as the relative expression levels of connexin 43 (Cx43) mRNA and protein in the cartilage tissue of knee joints of the rats in each group were compared after treatment. ResultsAfter 8 weeks of treatment, compared with the model group, the wear of the knee joints cartilage tissue of the rats in the positive group, the high-dose group and the low-dose group improved. In the model group, the cartilage matrix of the knee joints was stained unevenly, and the surface cells were missing, some of which were clustered and irregularly arranged, with slightly pale staining, interlaced and disordered layers, incomplete tidemark, and thickening of calcified cartilage zone. In the high-dose group, the cells proliferation of cartilage tissue in the knee joints of rats was obvious and distributed in clusters. In the low-dose group, the cells of cartilage tissue in the knee joints varied in size, and some of which were clustered, irregularly arranged and slightly disordered, but with recognizable layers. After 8 weeks of treatment, the serum MMP-13 level in the low-dose group was lower than that in the model group, and the serum TNF-α levels in the high-dose group and low-dose group were lower than that in the model group. Compared with the model group, the expressions of SOX9 and Collagen Ⅱ increased, and the expressions of TNF-α and MMP-13 decreased in the cartilage tissue of knee joints of the rats in the high-dose group, while the relative expression levels of Cx43 mRNA and protein in the cartilage tissue of knee joints of rats in high-dose group, low-dose group and positive group decreased (all P＜0.05). ConclusionHuatuo Fengtongbao Tablets has a certain therapeutic effect on osteoarthritis rats, which may be related to its ability to regulate the levels of MMP-13, TNF-α, SOX9, Collagen Ⅱ and Cx43.

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