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ABSTRACT
About 1 in 3 people suffer from bone and joint disease, which is a disease of bone and cartilage cells. Osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH) is a typical example of bone and joint disease involving bone cell necrosis. Osteonecrosis of the femoral head leads to the occurrence of premature osteoarthritis of the hip and collapse of the cartilage cells, and there is currently no effective drug treatment available. In order to study the effects of “bone-strengthening pill” (BSP) on the repair of bone and cartilage cells, we investigated the potential effects of the herbal mixture BSP in an animal model of avascular necrosis of the femoral head and in patients. Results showed that 90% of rats injected with prednisone developed ONFH, whereas BSP administration prevented ONFH development in 70% of prednisone-injected rats. We evaluated the constituents of BSP by HPLC fingerprinting. We also evaluated the clinical efficacy of BSP in a double-blind, randomized, controlled trial of 300 patients with ONFH. The response rate was found to be higher in the treatment group than in the control group, with a response rate of 82% in the treatment group. Treatment with BSP also significantly reduced pain, improved hip function, reduced lameness, and improved pathology by X-ray and MRI analysis, compared with patients who did not receive BSP. These results suggest that BSP treatment inhibits and reverses necrosis of the femoral head bone cells and cartilage cells to repair the femoral head, and promote the repair of bone and cartilage diseases.

ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To study the use of a bone-strengthening pill to treat ischemic necrosis of the femoral head.
METHODS: A model of castration in rats with osteoporosis and a model of ischemic necrosis in the bilateral femoral heads of young rats were used to detect bone density, bone formation measurements, lipid deposition in the femoral head, the distribution of capillaries in the femoral head and other relevant biochemical indices.
RESULTS: In model rats, bone-strengthening pills were able to increase the bone density, the unit volume of bony trabeculae, the width of bony trabeculae, and the unit volume of the bony cortex. They could also enhance the mineral apposition rate in the femoral head and the seam width of osteoid deposition. Furthermore, there was a reduction in lipid deposition in the femoral head, and enriched distribution of arteries in the femoral head. Bone-related biochemical detections showed an increase in alkaline phosphatase staining and a decrease in tartaric acidic phosphatase staining.
CONCLUSION: The results show that bone-strengthening pills can promote bone growth, cause an increase in bone density, restore blood circulation, inhibit the occurrence and development of bony necrosis, and accelerate the repair of necrotic bones, with no toxic side-effects.

ABSTRACT
Currently, no effective drug treatment is available for bone and joint disease, a disorder of the bone and cartilage cells. Osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH) is an example of bone and joint disease. It is progressive, with femoral head collapse resulting from the death of osteocytes and the bone marrow, leading to a poor quality of life and surgical interventions. However, the mechanism of this disease is still unknown, and the effects of current therapy are not satisfactory. In our previous study, we showed, using an ONFH rat model, that a new Chinese medicine, “bone-strengthening supplement” (BSP), enhances bone growth, promotes bone density, and restores blood circulation in the femoral head, and can significantly relieve pain, improve hip joint function, and reduce claudication. In the present study, we evaluated the curative effect of BSP in patients with ONFH using MRI with a double-blind randomized protocol. BSP significantly relieved pain unlike the control treatment; in addition, this treatment could improve MRI signal in ONFH patients. These results suggest that, overall; BSP can restore blood circulation and promote bone and cartilage growth during restoration of bone necrosis and the treatment of bone and joint disease.