Effect of Guanjie Kang for Knee Osteoarthritis

【Objective】To observe the therapeutic effect of Guanjie Kang(GKT),a prescription mainly composed of Radix Rehmanniae Preparata,Radix Achyranthis Bidentatae,Cortex Eucommiae,Fructus Lycii,Radix Salviae Miltiorrhizae,Flos Carthami,Radix Aucklandiae,Fructus Psoraleae,etc.in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis(OA),thus to supply evidence for the further clinical application of GKT.【Methods】Knee OA patients were included according to revised classified criteria for OA of American Rheumatism Association(established in 1995)and to design requirement of clinical trial phase Ⅱ.The patients were randomly allocated to two groups:group A was treated with GKT and group B with celecoxib for 6 successive weeks.After treatment,the effect on relieving symptoms and signs(especially pain of the knee,function of the knee)as well as TCM syndrome was evaluated according to the modified classification and therapeutic effect criteria for OA.【Results】The difference of total therapeutic effect was insignificant between the two groups(P0.05).However,there existed a better effect on relieving TCM syndrome in group A than that in group B,though the effect of group A on relieving pain was inferior to that of group B(P0.01).【Conclusion】GKT and celecoxib have a similar effect for OA,and GKT shows a better effect on relieving TCM syndrome,which is worth of further research.