Analysis of proteoglycan 4 mRNA expression on pain improvement and functional ability in knee osteoarthritis patients after high-intensity laser administration
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Background Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) is the most common type of arthritis and is the main cause of chronic musculoskeletal pain. High-intensity laser therapy (HILT) is a potential method for the management of KOA. This study aims to determine the PRG4 mRNA expression in patients with KOA by administering HILT to observe the changes in the PRG4 gene expression and followed by clinically assessing the pain and functional ability. Methods This study was a quasi-experimental research with pre- and post-intervention group designs. A total of 60 patients (aged 45–65 years) diagnosed with KOA based on the criteria of the American College of Rheumatology (clinical and radiologist) and the Kellgren-Lawrence II criterion were involved in the study. The samples were divided into two groups, the intervention group (30 patients) and the control group (30 patients). In the intervention group, each patient was given HILT (using BTL-6000) with biostimulation mode on the lateral and medial sides of the knee for 10 minutes. Therapy was carried out twice a week for a total of 7 times. Results There was an increase in mRNA expression of the PRG4 gene which occurred significantly higher in the intervention group. Similarly, for pain, a significant decrease in pain scores was obtained in both subject groups (p < 0.001). Functional abilities covering aspects of pain, stiffness, and physical function also improved significantly in both groups after one month (p < 0.001), with better improvements in the group of subjects who received HILT with an average of 4.33 (p < 0.001). Conclusions This study showed that HILT can reduce the pain of grade II KOA based on Kellgren-Lawrence, improving the functional ability of KOA patients. HILT also significantly improves the expression of the proteoglycan mRNA (PRG4) gene. Finally, HILT can be the method of choice in the treatment of osteoarthritis.
