Biophoton Imaging Evaluation of the Process of Rheumatoid Arthritis in Rats

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a common form of chronic inflammatory arthritis, and it mainly causes the destruction of small joints. The development of this disease is a relatively secret and repeated process, and therefore early diagnosis and evaluation of the disease is usually difficult. In this study, an arthritis model was successfully induced by injecting complete Freund’s adjuvant (CFA) into the toes of lower limbs of Wistar rats. Seven days after injection of CFA, obvious redness and swelling appeared at the toe joints of lower limbs accompanied by more sensitivity to thermal stimulation. Using the ultraweak bio-photon imaging system (UBIS) established by us, the toe joint area of the lower limbs of rats was imaged 7 days after injection of CFA. It was found that the volar part of lower limbs of arthritis rats showed significantly higher biophoton emissions compared with the control group. The results of this study may provide a basis for further research and devel-opment of early diagnosis and assessment of lesion progression of rheumatoid arthritis.