Low dose radiation therapy (LD-RT) is effective in the treatment of arthritis: Animal model findings

Abstract

Purpose: This paper provides a critical assessment of the hypothesis that low doses of ionizing radiation may be potentially effective in the treatment of inflammatory conditions, with particular focus on arthritis.

Materials and methods: A critical review of the biomedical literature was undertaken to assess whether low doses of ionizing radiation may affect the progression of experimentally-induced arthritis using multiple animal models.

Results: The findings indicate that low doses of ionizing radiation were effective in alleviating the occurrence of clinical symptoms of arthritis in five complementary experimental models of arthritis.

Conclusions: Consistent findings by multiple research groups indicate that low doses of ionizing radiation can be highly effective in reducing a broad range of arthritic changes in multiple animal models in a manner quantitatively similar to that of well known pharmaceutical agents.

Keywords::

• Radiation therapy
• arthritis
• animal model
• anti-inflammatory
• inflammation
• dose-response

Acknowledgements

The US Government is authorized to reproduce and distribute for governmental purposes notwithstanding any copyright notation thereon. The views and conclusions contained herein are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as necessarily representing the official policies or endorsement, either expressed or implied, of the Air Force Office of Scientific Research or the US Government.

Declaration of interest The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.

This research was sponsored by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Air Force Material Command, US Air Force, under grant number FA9550-08-1-0248.