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Imaging of ultra-weak photon emission in a rheumatoid arthritis mouse model
Eduard van Wijk1, Masaki Kobayashi2, Roeland van Wijk3
1Sino-Dutch Centre for Preventive and Personalized Medicine/Centre for Photonics of Living Systems, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands ; Division of Analytical Biosciences, Netherlands Metabolomics Centre, LACDR, Leiden University, The Netherlands ; Meluna Research, Geldermalsen, The Netherlands ; Samueli Institute, Alexandria, Virginia, United States of America.
Abstract:
Ultra-weak photon emission (UPE) of a living system received scientific attention because of its potential for monitoring increased levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). In this study, a highly sensitive cryogenic charge-coupled device (CCD) camera was used to monitor in a RA mouse model the photon emission both without and with luminol. For that purpose, arthritis was induced in mice utilizing a repeated co-administration of type II collagen with lipopolysaccharide. Quantitative imaging of ultra-weak photon emission of the front and back paws of the animals was initiated 70 days after the first injection. All of the animals were measured once without luminol and once again immediately after luminol injection. Data illustrated a higher UPE intensity after initiating arthritis by CII-injection of the animals. The increase in UPE intensity was measured with and without using luminol indicating that this imaging technology may be useful for the future study of human RA.
