The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of High-Voltage Pulsed Current (HVPC) and ultrasound on adjuvant-induced arthritis in rats. Adjuvant arthritis was induced in female Sprauge-Dawley rats by the subcutaneous injection of a single dose of 1 ㎖ of Complete Freund's Adjuvant (CFA) (1 mg of Mycobacterium Butyricum suspended in 1 ㎖ paraffin oil) into the right hind paw. A randomized, parallel-groups design of 24 subjects was used. All rats were randomly assigned to control (n=8), ultrasound (n=8), and HVPC (n=8) were compared with those of injured rats. The rats in the pulsed ultrasound group were treated at 1 MHz frequency with 5 W/㎠ intensity in 1:4 mode for 5 minutes per day. The rats in the HVPC group were treated at 120 pulses per second and 50 ㎲ phase duration, 20 mA intensity for 30 min per day. Treatment was done in the left and right hind limb for 2 weeks. We evaluated clinical, radiographic, hematologic and histopathologic findings before and after treatment and obtained the following results. 1. Edema of the right hind paw was more significantly reduced in the ultrasound and HVPC groups than the control group on days 9, 12, and 14 (p<.05). Edema of the left hind paw was more significantly reduced in ultrasound and HVPC groups than the control group on days 12, 14 (p<.05). 2. WBC counts of the ultrasound and HVPC groups as compared with the control group were becoming remarkably decreased after the treatment. 3. In radiologic findings, arthritis formation was seen according to the score of arthritis, which was the highest in the control group, upon the observation of radiographs of the left and right hind paws. However, no statistically significant difference was present in the score within three groups. 4. In the histopathologic findings, ultrasound and HVPC groups had effectively suppressed erosions of articular cartilage and inflammatory cell infiltrations. Therefore, the results of the study show that rats that were treated with the ultrasound and HVPC effectively suppressed adjuvant arthritis. However, no statistically significant difference was present between the ultrasound group and the HVPC group.

The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of ultrasound on adjuvant-induced arthritis in rats. Adjuvant arthritis was induced in 26 female Sprauge-Dawley rats by the subcutaneous injection of a single dose of .1 mL of Complete Freund's Adjuvant (CFA) (1 mg of Mycobacterium Butyricum suspended in .1 paraffin oil) into the right hind paw. After confirming inflammatory edema and arthritis in the paw 2 weeks later, the arthritic rats were divided into 3 groups, i.e., a control group, a pulsed ultrasound group (Group A), and a continuous ultrasound group (Group B) with 8 rats placed in each group. The rats in Group A were treated with pulsed ultrasound at 1 MHz frequency with .5 intensity in 1 : 4 mode for 3 minutes. The rats in Group B were treated with continuous ultrasound at 1 MHz frequency with 2 intensity in the continuous mode for 3 minutes. The ultrasound treatment was done in the left and right ankles for 2 weeks. Clinical, radiographic and histopathologic findings were then evaluated before and after treatment and yielded the following results. 1. No significant difference was present in body weight between the control group and the treated groups. 2. A statistically significant decrease in the edema of the paw was seen in the rats in Group A that was treated with pulsed ultrasound by 26~29 days after the treatment started (p<.05). 3. According to radiological examination, Group A showed the lowest score in arthritis scale which means it showed a tendency to suppress arthritic inflammation of the left and right hind paws. However, no statistically significant difference was present in the score between the control group, Group A and Group B. 4. According to histopathologic findings, the degree of infiltration by inflammatory cells and hypertrophy of the synovium were less in Group A compared with the control group and Group B. The results of the study show that rats that were treated with the pulsed ultrasound effectively suppressed adjuvant arthritis. However, more effort is needed to objectively prove the effectiveness of ultrasound by developing more sensitive testing methods that could quantitatively evaluate the treatment effects of acute rheumatoid arthritis and by trying out different ultrasound treatment methods.

CT는 단층촬영을 이용한 의학적인 영상 진단 기법이다. CT는 3차원적인 방사선학적 영상 기법으로 염증의 평가에는 적합하지 않으나, 석회화된 조직을 직접적인 3차원 영상으로 보여주므로 뼈 손상의 평가에는 유용하 다. 본 연구는 실험적으로 유도된 랫드의 보조관절염에서 관절의 병리학적 변화와 뼈 파괴의 정량적 분석을 3 차원 CT 영상을 통하여 평가하고자 실시되었다. 그 결과 랫드의 보조관절염에서 병변의 파괴성 진행이 3차원 CT 영상을 통해 정량화될 수 있었고, 따라서 관절염 질환의 상태 및 실험적인 치료 약제의 효능 평가에 3차원 CT 영상 기법이 효과적일 것으로 생각된다.