ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of manipulation treatment on knee osteoarthritis rats and the effect on Rho-associated protein kinase (ROCK)/LIM-kinase1 (LIMK1)/Cofilin signaling pathway. METHOD: Fifty Specific pathogen Free Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into five groups ( = 8 each): blank group, model group, manipulation group, celecoxib group, and manipulation combined with celecoxib group (MC group). The osteoarthritis model was established by injecting 0.2 mL 4% papain into the articular disc of the rats. After successfully establishing the model, we treated the manipulation group with pushing manipulation using one-finger-meditation to the Neixiyan (EX-LE4), Waixiyan (EX-LE5), Xuehai (SP10), Liangqiu (ST34), and Zusanli (ST36) acupoints for 10 min each time. Also, the celecoxib group was gavaged with 24 mgâ¢kgâ¢d celecoxib, while the MC group was treated using both of these two methods. After four weeks, the cartilage of the right femur was removed for hematoxylin-eosin staining of the cartilage tissue. The expressions of interleukin-1ß (IL-1ß) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in serum were observed using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Besides, we detected the expressions of ROCK, LIMK1, Phospho-LIM-kinase1 (Phospho-LIMK1), Cofilin, and Phospho-Cofilin by Western blot. RESULTS: Compared to the model group, the manipulation group, celecoxib group, and MC group all exhibited superior results concerning pathological morphologic changes of cartilage, as observed by hematoxylin-eosin staining and calculated using the Mankin score. Besides, in contrast to the blank group, the model group exhibited elevated serum levels of IL-1ß and TNF-α ( 0.01), while the expression of ROCK, LIMK1, Phospho-LIMK1, Cofilin, and Phospho-Cofilin in cartilage were all higher ( 0.01). Also, the serum levels of IL-1ß and TNF-α in each treatment group were lower (0.01) than in the model group. Moreover, there were lower expressions of ROCK, LIMK1, Phospho-LIMK1, Cofilin, and Phospho-Cofilin in cartilage in the manipulation group and the MC group (< 0.01). Compared with the model group, the expression of ROCK, LIMK1, Phospho-LIMK1, Cofilin, and Phospho-Cofilin in cartilage in the celecoxib group were not statistically different ( > 0.05). CONCLUSION: In this study, we established that manipulation has a better curative effect than celecoxib. Manipulation inhibits the development of cytoskeleton damage in cartilage and slows articular degeneration by regulating the expression of related proteins in the cytoskeletal signaling pathway.