From concept to practice: intra-articular photobiomodulation for knee osteoarthritis - PubMed
6 hours ago
- #Intra-articular Therapy
- #Knee Osteoarthritis
- #Photobiomodulation
- Current treatments for knee osteoarthritis (KOA) mainly provide symptomatic relief and lack disease-modifying effects.
- Intra-articular photobiomodulation therapy (PBMT) is proposed as an innovative approach using minimally invasive miniaturized light sources inside the joint to overcome limitations of transcutaneous delivery.
- Light in the 600-1000 nm range triggers biological effects such as activating the Nrf2 pathway for antioxidant benefits, suppressing NF-κB to reduce inflammation, promoting analgesia, inducing autophagy, and inhibiting apoptosis.
- This targeted therapy aims to transition from palliative symptom management to mechanism-based tissue repair, offering potential as a disease-modifying treatment for KOA.
- Challenges remain in device durability, biocompatibility, and clinical translation, despite promising preclinical and early clinical evidence.