Alleviation of cartilage degeneration by laser acupuncture:An ultrasound biomicroscopic study of early postmenopausal osteoarthritis in rats  

作　　者：Qing Wang Yinong Wang Zhiwei Liu 

机构地区：[1]School of Biomedical Engineering,Southern Medical University,Guangzhou,China [2]Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Medical Image Processing,Southern Medical University,Guangzhou,China [3]Guangdong Province Engineering Laboratory for Medical Imaging and Diagnostic Technology,Southern Medical University,Guangzhou,China

出　　处：《Medicine in Novel Technology and Devices》2022年第4期317-322,共6页医学中新技术与新装备（英文）

基　　金：the Special Funds of Guang Dong Universities for Talents(2050205);the Guangdong Science and Technology Program(grant no.2016A020216017)。

摘　　要：This study aims to evaluate the therapeutic effects of laser acupuncture(LA)on articular cartilage degradation at the early stage of postmenopausal osteoarthritis(PMOA)by an ultrasound biomicroscopic technology.Twentyone healthy female Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly and evenly divided into three groups-sham,ovariectomized(OVX)and OVXþLA groups.Only the peri-ovarian fatty tissue of the sham rats was exteriorized.The animals in the OVX and OVXþLA groups underwent bilateral ovariectomy to create a menopause model.On day 8 after the ovariectomy,the 2-week LA therapy at acupoints Guanyuan(CV-4),Sanyinjiao(SP-6),and Zusanli(ST36)was performed in the OVXþLA group,while the sham and OVX groups had a sham treatment.All the animals were sacrificed on day 22.The cartilage tissues in the left knee joint were examined by ultrasound and histology.Compared with the sham group,the significantly degenerate alterations(p<0.01)in ultrasound roughness index(URI),reflection coefficient(RC1)and cartilage thickness were found in the OVX group,while the values of these parameters were significantly recovered(p<0.01)in the OVXþLA group.The LA treatment enhanced proteoglycans(PGs)content with a significant reduce of the modified Mankin score(p<0.01).The acoustic assessment strongly correlated with the histologic evaluation.The results showed that LA treatment could alleviate the postmenopause-induced cartilage degradation and promote tissue repair.LA has potential to be a simple and safe non-pharmacological countermeasure against PMOA for geriatric patient population.The ultrasound biomicroscopic technology could be a quantitative evaluation tool of the structural and morphological responses of articular cartilage to LA intervention.

关 键 词：Postmenopausal osteoarthritis Articular cartilage Laser acupuncture High-frequency ultrasound Histologic assessment 

分 类 号：R245.8[医药卫生—针灸推拿学] R681[医药卫生—中医临床基础]