| Objective To investigate the clinical efficacy of Chonggu granule (CGG) in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis (KOA) in patients with liver and renal disease, as well as the probable mechanism of CGG in the treatment of KOA based on the Wnt/-catenin signaling pathway. Methods With 30 instances in each group, 60 patients were randomly assigned to one of two groups: glucosamine or heavy bone granules. During 8 weeks, the glucosamine group took glucosamine hydrochloride tablets (0.75g bid orally), while the Chonggu granule group took Chonggu granule (1 fu per day, twice split). TCM syndrome score, clinical efficacy, visual analogue scale (VAS) score, WOMAC scale score, Lysholm score, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) levels were measured in both groups before and after therapy. RT-PCR was used to detect the mRNA expression of wnt1, β-catenin and GSK3β in peripheral blood, and ELISA was used to detect the levels of IL-6 and IL-1β. Results RT-PCR was used to quantify wnt1, -catenin, and GSK3β mRNA expression in peripheral blood, and ELISA was utilized to measure IL-6 and IL-1β levels. Results The therapeutic effectiveness of CGG was higher than that of glucosamine (P<0.05). After treatment, the TCM syndrome score, VAS score, WOMAC score, and Lysholm score in the Chonggu granule group were significantly higher than in the glucosamine group (P<0.05); ESR, hs-CRP, IL-6, and IL-1β levels in the CGG group were also significantly lower than in the glucosamine group (P<0.05); The decrease in Wnt1 and β-catenin levels, as well as the rise in GSK3β, were larger in the CGG group than in the glucosamine group (P<0.05). Conclusion CGG can effectively reduce the TCM syndrome score of KOA patients with liver-kidney deficiency, improve knee pain symptoms, and joint function, and its possible mechanism is related to the inhibition of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway and the inhibition of pro-inflammatory factor expression. |