The only early surgical therapy of rheumatoid arthritis is synovectomy. But even an arthroscopic synovectomy is restricted to more or less big joints. It has been shown recently that for smaller joints a laser synovectomy is possible but more time-consuming than with mechanical instruments. An alternative method may be photodynamic therapy.
In this study, possible photodynamic effects of Chloroquine, Methotrexate, Piroxicam, and Sodium Morrhuate were examined using a cell culture model of human synovial fibroblasts from patients having rheumatoid arthritis.
Incubation with Chloroquine or Methotrexate and subsequent laser irradiation at a wavelength of 351 nm resulted in an at least twenty-fold enhanced cytotoxicity.
Both substances therefore may serve for a photodynamic therapy of rheumatoid arthritis.