Traditional Chinese medicine formula Bi-Qi capsule alleviates rheumatoid arthritis-induced inflammation, synovial hyperplasia, and cartilage destruction in rats

Table 4 Pathological features of cartilage

Group (n = 8)	Cartilage layer damage depth	Cartilage surface damage range	Proliferation of fibrous tissue	Inflammatory cell infiltration
Healthy	0	0	0	0
Arthritic	2.38 ± 0.52	2.50 ± 0.53	2.50 ± 0.53	2.75 ± 0.46
BQ high dose	1.13 ± 0.64^****	1.13 ± 0.35^****	1.25 ± 0.46^***	2.13 ± 0.35^*
BQ moderate dose	0.88 ± 0.35^****	0.75 ± 0.46^****	1.13 ± 0.35^****	1.25 ± 0.46^{****, &}
MTX	1.13 ± 0.35^****	0.88 ± 0.64^****	1.25 ± 0.46^***	1.75 ± 0.46^***

Data are presented as mean ± SD
BQ Bi-Qi capsule, MTX methotrexate
Significant effect of treatment compared to arthritic group, ^*P < 0.05, ^**P < 0.01, ^***P < 0.001, ^****P < 0.0001; compared to BQ high-dose group, ^&P < 0.05

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