Photobiomodulation outperforms ultrasound in reducing IL-1

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

6-9-2026

Publication Title

APL Bioeng

Abstract

Therapeutic ultrasound (US) and photobiomodulation (PBM) are promising treatment modalities for restoring articular cartilage. Owing to their different mechanisms of action, individual or combined stimulation may elicit different bioeffects on chondrocytes. This study aimed to evaluate the potential of US and PBM, applied alone or combined, in augmenting chondrocytes' responses toward cartilage matrix synthesis and reverting their catabolic activities, with or without interleukin-1β (IL-1β) incubation. Human chondrocytes were cultured under basal or proinflammatory conditions (1 ng/ml IL-1β) and stimulated daily for 6 days with US, PBM, US followed by PBM, and PBM followed by US. Chondrocyte activity, along with protein and mRNA expression of cartilage synthesis- and degradation-related markers, was analyzed. IL-1β incubation did not significantly affect chondrocytes' metabolic activity or sulfated glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) production. Both US and PBM, alone or combined, increased the protein and mRNA of collagen type II (

Volume

10

Issue

2

First Page

026106

Last Page

026106

DOI

10.1063/5.0323327

ISSN

2473-2877

PubMed ID

42273188

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