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Low-Intensity Pulsed Ultrasound Reduces the Inflammatory Activity of Synovitis

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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS) on the cell proliferation and growth of synovial membrane cells stimulated with inflammatory cytokines, and to evaluate the effectiveness of LIPUS treatment of synovitis in the knee joints of animal models for rheumatoid arthritis. The rabbit knee synovial membrane cell line, HIG-82, was cultured in medium with or without IL-1β or TNF-α. Four hours after stimulation with the cytokines, the cells received LIPUS or sham exposure. Cell proliferation and growth were then analyzed. Using MRL/lpr mice, the anti-inflammatory effects of LIPUS were also evaluated in vivo. Stimulation with proinflammatory cytokines significantly up-regulated cell proliferation which was significantly down-regulated by LIPUS exposure. In MRL/lpr mice, exposure of knee joints to LIPUS caused a significant reduction of histological damage compared to the control. Histological lesions were significantly reduced in the joints treated with LIPUS for 3 weeks. Cox-2-positive cells in the knee joints treated with LIPUS were markedly decreased compared to the control joints. Therefore, LIPUS stimulation may be a medical treatment for joint inflammatory diseases, such as synovitis.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Atsumi Ohta and Haruhisa Okada for providing the ultrasound devices and technical support for the experiments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics, Institute of Health Biosciences, The University of Tokushima Graduate School, 3-18-15 Kuramoto-cho, Tokushima, 770-8504, Japan

    Tatsuya Nakamura, Shinji Fujihara, Kumiko Yamamoto-Nagata, Tomoko Katsura & Eiji Tanaka

  2. Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathobiology, Hiroshima University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Hiroshima, Japan

    Toshihiro Inubushi

Authors
  1. Tatsuya Nakamura
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  2. Shinji Fujihara
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  3. Kumiko Yamamoto-Nagata
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  4. Tomoko Katsura
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  5. Toshihiro Inubushi
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  6. Eiji Tanaka
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Correspondence to Eiji Tanaka.

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Associate Editor Scott I. Simon oversaw the review of this article.

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Nakamura, T., Fujihara, S., Yamamoto-Nagata, K. et al. Low-Intensity Pulsed Ultrasound Reduces the Inflammatory Activity of Synovitis. Ann Biomed Eng 39, 2964–2971 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-011-0408-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-011-0408-0

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