Objective To evaluate the clinical efficacy of Chonggu granule in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis (KOA) with liver and kidney deficiency and its influence in cartilage matrix metabolism. Methods Hospitalized or outpatient KOA patients from December 2020 to October 2021 were selected and randomly divided into 2 groups, with 30 cases in each group. Patients in the treatment group received glucosamine hydrochloride 0.75g/ time, twice a day. Patients in the control group received Chonggu granule 10g each time, twice a day. The treatment continued for 12 weeks in both groups. Before and after the treatment, visual analogue scale (VAS) score, WOMAC osteoarthritis score, Lequesne index score, and traditional Chinese medicine syndrome score were used to evaluate the disease activity of the two groups. The levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) and erythrocyte precipitation rate (ESR) were detected. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to detect IL-17 and IL-35. Serum levels of matrix metalloproteinase-13 (MMP-13), cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP), bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP-2), and proteoglycan were detected. Results After the treatment, WOMAC score, VAS score, Lequesne score, and TCM syndrome score of KOA patients in each group improved significantly (P < 0.01). The levels of MMP-13, COMP, IL-17, CRP, and ESR decreased significantly (P < 0.01). The levels of BMP-2, proteoglycan, and IL-35 increased significantly (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). Compared between the two groups, the disease activity score, MMP-13, COMP, IL-17, CRP decreased significantly in the treatment group, and BMP-2, proteoglycan and IL-35 increased significantly (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). The total effective rate of the treatment group was better than that of the control group, with statistical significance (P < 0.05). Conclusion Chonggu granule regulates the expression of cytokines and reduces the degradation and destruction of extrachondral matrix in the treatment of KOA, thereby relieves the clinical symptoms, improves the quality of life of patients, and has good clinical efficacy. |