This study was designed to determine the effects of swimming and low power laser on rheumatoid arthritis in Sprague-Dawley rats. Rheumatoid arthritis was induced in 36 rats among 48 Sprague-Dawley rats by the subcutaneous injection of .05 ㎖ Freund's Complete Adjuvant into the right hind paw and .05 ㎖ Freund's Complete Adjuvant into the right hind knee joint capsule. A second injection was performed by the same method using .1 ㎖ Freund's Complete Adjuvant per a rat. Arthritic rats were divided into 8 groups: each 1 week and 2 weeks of arthritic swimming, arthritic laser, arthritic case control and normal group. In this study, several experimental tests were performed to determine the concentration of Interleukin-6, the space of the knee joint and the thickness of the hind paw. The concentration of Interleukin-6 and hind paw thickness decreased in the swimming group and laser group as compared to the control group. The space of the knee joint increased significantly after the swimming exercise. Swimming and low power laser therapy positively affect rheumatoid arthritis in rats affect by decreasing the concentration of Interleukin-6 and hind paw thickness, and increasing the space of the knee joint.

Electrical acupuncture has been shown to induce hypoglycemic effect in streptozotocin diabetic rats. The Zusanli acupoints have been widely used in traditional Chinese medicine to relieve symptoms of diabetes mellitus. But, the effects of electrical acupuncture stimulation of different frequencies are still unclear. We designed an experiment to investigate the effect of electrical acupuncture of high (100 Hz) and low (2 Hz) frequencies on Zusanli acupoint for 15 minutes in streptozotocin diabetic rats. They were divided into 4 groups, high frequency electrical acupuncture (HFEA group, n=5), low frequency electrical acupuncture (LFEA group, n=5), without any treatment (control group, n=5) and normal group (n=5). After 2 weeks of treatment, the HFEA and LFEA groups had a significantly decreased glucose concentration in serum in comparison to the control group. Additionally, the HFEA group had a significantly decreased glucose concentration in serum compared with the LFEA group. Both the HFEA and LFEA groups had a significantly decreased Immunoglobulin G concentration in serum compared with control group. The LFEA and control groups had a significantly increased cholesterol concentration in serum compared with the normal group, but the HFEA did not have a significantly increased cholesterol concentration. Thus we suggest that electrical acupuncture stimulation at the Zusanli acupoints is effective on hypoglycemic effect and immune function. Overall, the therapeutic effects of electrical acupuncture at 100 Hz was better than effects at 2 Hz.