Abstract:Objective To investigate the protective effect of Alijiren on cartilage tissue and the influence of inflammatory factors in serum in rats with knee osteoarthritis.Methods Mould was made by modified Hulth method. Thirty SD rats were randomly divided into sham operation group, model group and treatment group, with 10 rats in each group. After successful modeling, the morphology of chondrocyte was observed by Masson staining and tissue sections were observed by saffron staining；The levels of IL-1 and IL-6 in serum of rats in each group were determined by ELISA, and the levels of Runx2 and TNF-α in cartilage tissue of rats in each group were detected by RT-qPCR and Western blot, respectively. Result Masson staining showed that the chondrocyte of model group was significantly hypertrophic than that of sham-operated group, while the condition of treatment group was significantly improved; Saffron staining showed that compared with sham-operated group, the area of chondrocyte in model group was significantly reduced, while that in treatment group was significantly reduced; Compared with sham operation group, the serum levels of IL-1 and IL-6 in model group increased significantly (P< 0.05), while the serum levels of IL-1 and IL-6 in treatment group decreased significantly (P <0.05); The results of RT-qPCR and Western blot showed that the expression of Runx2 and TNF-alpha in cartilage tissue of model group was significantly higher than that of sham-operated group (P<0.05), while the expression of TNF-alpha in treatment group was significantly lower than that in sham-operated group (P<0.05). Conclusion Alijiren can effectively inhibit the destruction of cartilage tissue in rats with knee osteoarthritis, and significantly reduce the level of inflammatory factors in rats with knee osteoarthritis.