Effect of Laser Acupuncture on Disuse Osteoarthritis: An Ultrasound Biomicroscopic Study of Patellar Articular Cartilage in Rats

To investigate the effect of laser acupuncture (LA) on disuse changes in articular cartilage using ultrasound biomicroscopy (UBM), Eighteen rats were randomly divided into the control group (C), the tail-suspended group (T), and the tail-suspended with LA treatment group (L). During 28-day suspension period, group L were treated with LA at acupoints on the left hindlimb while group T had a sham treatment. Ultrasound roughness index (URI), integrated reflection coefficient (IRC), integrated backscatter coefficient (IBC), cartilage thickness, and ultrasonographic score (US) of articular cartilage at patella were measured by using an ultrasound biomicroscopy system (UBS). Compared with the group C, URI significantly (P<0.01) increased by 60.9% in group T, increased by 38.1% in group L. In addition, unloading induced a significant cartilage thinning (P