LEG-BATHING IN DECOCTION IN TREATING RHEUMATISM, EXPERIMENTED ON RATS AND DEMONSTRATED BY VISUALIZATION OF KNEE JOINT SYNOVIUM

Objective: Treating rheumatism by leg bath in decoction, as a green therapy, is very popular among Chinese patients suffering from Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), however, relevant experiments and evidence are still wanting. Based on visualization technique, this study demonstrates changes, after leg bath in decoction, at knee joint synovium of rats with Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), and the efficacy of this therapy is further discussed. Methods: Ninety male Wistar rats were randomly and equally assigned to six groups: Health Group, Model Group, Prednisone Acetate Gavage, Rheumatism Decoction Gavage, Hot Water Bath, and Rheumatism Decoction Bath. After 14 days of experiment, MRI data of knee synovium thickness and smoothness of all groups were collected, analyzed and cross compared. Results: Due to death or other reasons, data of 43 rats were finally obtained: 11 in Health Group, 7 in Model Group, 5 in Group of Hot Water Bath, 5 in Group of Prednisone Acetate Gavage, 5 in Group of Rheumatism Decoction Gavage, and 10 in Group of Rheumatism Decoction Bath. Comparison was made among MRI results of knee synovium from different groups in aspects of volume rendering, density, horizontal and vertical measurement, boundary curve, and smoothness of the boundary. The result showed that there was huge difference between Health Group and that of Model Group; all data of Group of Rheumatism Decoction Bath were better than any other groups and were the closet to those of Health Group. Conclusion: Based on application of visualization techniques, the results can be directly perceived by means of MRI, which showed leg bath in decoction can significantly improve the thickness and smoothness of knee synovium in rats with rheumatism, and its effects are superior to gavage of prednisone acetate or rheumatism decoction, with the placebo effect ruled out (since the result of this group is better than that of Hot Water Bath).