Abstract

Background: It is a common experience that elderly population suffer from degenerative joint disease known as osteoarthritis (OA). There are several biochemical markers that are altered in this low-grade inflammation of knee joint as in OA. Lowlevel laser therapy (LLLT) is known to be safe and effective methods in the management of pain and inflammation in knee OA. Aim and
Objective: This study aims to study the serum biomarkers to assess the inflammatory status in subjects with knee OA undergoing LLLT.
Materials and Methods: The study subjects were in the age group of 45–75 years who had clinically diagnosed knee OA. The LLLT (810 nm, 10 mW) was given to the subjects for a total duration of 3 months with a periodicity of 3 times a week. Serum osteocalcin and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) assay were done before and after therapy as well as in controls.
Results: Mean PGE2 in the study subjects before the intervention and after laser therapy was 271.20 ± 128.30 pg/ml and 351.21 ± 98.92 pg/ml, respectively (P = 012). Mean osteocalcin (ng/ml) in the study subjects before the intervention and controls was 9.65 ± 7.90 ng/ml and 4.87 ± 3.23 ng/ml, respectively (P = 004). Conclusion: It can be concluded that LLLT had anti-inflammatory effects in subjects with knee osteoarthritis (KOA) as evident from significant increase in anti-inflammatory markers such as osteocalcin and PGE2.