Objective: Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common chronic joint disease in the elderly

characterized by degenerative changes

destruction of articular cartilage and secondary bone hyperplasia

with the main clinical manifestations of repeated episodes of pain

joint swelling

joint deformity and movement disorder. And its pathogenesis is still not clear.Traditional Chinese medicine believes that OA belongs to the bone rheumatism category

for the deficiency of the Ganshenxukui

Qizhixueyu

Mailuoizu as the representation

Chinese medicine treatment also from start to pathogenesis

invigorating the kidney and promoting blood circulation mainly

and concurrently to Qushi analgesic. Each generation of physicians summarizes prescription many treatment of Bi syndrome based on clinical experience

effectively delay the disease process of OA. In addition

the clinical diagnosis of osteoarthritis mainly relies on symptoms and imaging examination

but the diagnosis method is not sensitive to early patients

which hampers the timely treatment of early patients with osteoarthritis. With the development of molecular biology

more and more studies show that various cytokines play an important role in the occurrence and development of osteoarthritis

which are closely related to the articular cartilage

synovial membrane and the subchondral bone function. There are many cytokines and proteins involved in the pathological changes of OA

such as interleukin and tumor necrosis factor alpha

transforming growth factor

insulin-like growth factor

matrix metalloproteinase and bone bridge bone protein

etc. At the same time

some specific biomarkers have been discovered in OA patients with body fluids

such as cartilage metabolism markers

markers of bone metabolism and markers of synovial metabolism substance

which can reflect early articular cartilage degeneration to assist to evaluate the early diagnosis

treatment and prognosis of osteoarthritis. At present

the research on cytokines have been probed into the mechanism level

such as the combination of cytokines and receptors on the target cells

cytokines activating intracellular signal transduction pathway. In biomarker research

given the many indicators lacking specificity

it is necessary to develop biomarkers with high sensitivity and specificity

and develop a simple and accurate method to reflect the early articular cartilage degeneration and other relevant pathological changes.