Objective To study the clinical efficacy and safety of bee-venom acupuncture therapy for rheumatoid arthritis(RA).Methods A total of 120 cases of RA patients were randomized into bee-sting acupuncture group(treatment)and western medicine group(control)in accordance with the random number table.The patients of the control group were treated by oral administration of Methotrexate(10 mg

once a week)and Celecoxlb(0.2 g

once a day)

and those of the treatment group treated by 5 to 15 bee stings of Ashi-points or acupoints according to different conditions and corporeity

and with the bee-sting retained for about 5 min every time

once every other day.The treatment lasted for 8 weeks.The therapeutic effect was assessed by examining symptoms and signs of the affected joints as morning stiffness duration

swollen/tender joint counts(indexes)

handgrip strength

15 m-walking time

visual analogue scale(VAS)

Disease Activity Score including a 28-joint count(DAS 28)

rheumatoid factor(RF)

erythrocyte sedimentation rate(ESR)

C-reactive protein(CRP)

anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibody(ACCPA);and for assessing the safety of bee-venom acupuncture

the patients' responses of fever

enlargement of lymph nodes

regional red and swollen

itching

blood and urine tests for routine were examined.Results Findings of DAS 28 responses displayed that of the two 60 cases in the control and bee-venom acupuncture groups

15 and 18 experienced marked improvement

33 and 32 were effective

12 and 10 ineffective

with the effective rates being 80% and 83.33%

respectively.No significant difference was found between the two groups in the effective rate(P>0.05).After the treatment

both groups have witnessed a marked decrease in the levels of morning stiffness duration

arthralgia index

swollen joint count index

joint tenderness index

15 mwalking time

VAS

RF

ESR

CRP and ACCPA

and an obvious increase of handgrip strength relevant to their own levels of pre-treatment in each group(P<0.05).There were no significant differences between the two groups in the abovementioned indexes(P>0.05).The routine blood test

routine urine test

routine stool test

electrocardiogram result

the function of liver and kidney and other security index were within the normal range

without any significant adverse effects found after bee-stinging treatment.Conclusion Bee-venom acupuncture therapy for RA patients is safe and effective

worthy of popularization and application in clinical practice.