Effect of intravenous laser therapy on the dynamics of melatonin, cortisol and some indicators of microcirculation in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Abstract

Many factors are involved in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis including endocrine ones. The aim of the present work was to study effects of low level laser irradiation at the dynamics of melatonin, cortisol and some indicators of microcirculation in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. The authors examined 128 patients with rheumatoid arthritis aged 18-75. 96 patients (studied group) had a 10-day course of intravenous laser therapy every other day with Matrix-VLOK laser apparatus (Matrix firm, Russia) having two emitting heads: KL-VLOK with wavelength 0.63 μm, power at the end of the tip 1.5-2.0 mV, exposure 15 minutes and KL-VLOK-365 with wavelength of 0.365 μm, power at the end of the tip 1.5-2.0 mV, exposure 5 minutes in continuous mode. The intravenous laser therapy course lasted for 10 days without any intervals for the weekend. The studied parameters were assessed before and after treatment. Patients with rheumatoid arthritis who had the course of intravenous laser therapy in addition to traditional therapy demonstrated the decrease of melatonin level, the increase in cortisol level and better mirocirculation.