ArticleClinical rheumatology2016
The impact of serial radon and hyperthermia exposure in a therapeutic adit on pivotal cytokines of bone metabolism in rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis.
Article in Clinical rheumatology, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 35 citations in OpenAlex.
- Circulating osteoprotegerin levels are elevated in rheumatoid arthritis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Clinical rheumatology · 2017Pooled it
- Osteo-immunological impact of radon spa treatment: due to radon or spa alone? Results from the prospective, thermal bath placebo-controlled RAD-ON02 trial.Frontiers in immunology · 2023Trial
- Temporarily increased TGFβ following radon spa correlates with reduced pain while serum IL-18 is a general predictive marker for pain sensitivity.Radiation and environmental biophysics · 2019Trial
- Enhancement of antioxidant function in various organs in mice using combined thermal and radon inhalation treatment.Journal of radiation research · 2026Article
- Cryotherapy and thermotherapy in the management of osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis: A comprehensive review.Fundamental research · 2025Review
- Sustained improvements in EQ-5D utility scores and self-rated health status in patients with ankylosing spondylitis after spa treatment including low-dose radon - an analysis of prospective radon indication registry data.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2022Article
- [Pain reduction through physical medicine : Update on the evidence].Zeitschrift fur Rheumatologie · 2022Review
- Mechanisms of action of radon therapy on cytokine levels in normal mice and rheumatoid arthritis mouse model.Journal of clinical biochemistry and nutrition · 2022Article
- Radon inhalation decreases DNA damage induced by oxidative stress in mouse organs via the activation of antioxidative functions.Journal of radiation research · 2021Article
- Radon Exposure-Therapeutic Effect and Cancer Risk.International journal of molecular sciences · 2020Review
- Evaluation of a special concept of physical therapy in spondyloarthritis: German multimodal rheumatologic complex treatment for spondyloarthritis.Clinical rheumatology · 2020Article
- [Multimodal rheumatologic complex treatment of rheumatoid arthritis-a monocentric retrospective analysis].Zeitschrift fur Rheumatologie · 2019Article
- [Physical therapy options in rheumatic diseases: what is evidence-based?]Der Orthopade · 2018Review
- Decrease of Markers Related to Bone Erosion in Serum of Patients with Musculoskeletal Disorders after Serial Low-Dose Radon Spa Therapy.Frontiers in immunology · 2017Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Secondary osteoporosis is a frequent complication of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and the result of an imbalance of catabolic and anabolic mechanisms of bone metabolism. The effects of serial low-dose radon and hyperthermia (LDRnHT) exposure in a therapeutic adit (12 applications in 3 weeks) on the serum levels of the cytokines osteoprotegerin (OPG), receptor activator of NF kappa-B ligand (RANKL), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and also on the RANKL/OPG ratio were investigated in 25 RA patients and an age-matched control of 24 patients with osteoarthritis (OA). Cytokine measurements were performed at baseline and after completion of LDRnHT. Anti-CCP antibodies (ACPA) were measured in RA patients in parallel. Medication in both groups was limited to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and low-dose prednisolone (16 of 24 RA patients) as needed. RA and OA patients showed a significant decrease of TNF-α levels (p < 0.001). Both groups showed significantly decreased levels of RANKL (RA: p < 0.001, OA: p < 0.01). Only the RA patients presented a significant increase of OPG (p < 0.01) and decrease of the RANKL/OPG ratio (p < 0.01), and the ACPA levels (p < 0.001). LDRnHT results in a reduction of osteocatabolic and an increase of osteoanabolic cytokines, which represents the molecular basis for inhibiting osteoclastic activity in secondary osteoporosis and explains in part the effect of LDRnHT this physical therapy modality in a key inflammatory disease. Although reduced ACPA levels were observed under the therapy and although this could potentially contribute to an osteoprotective effect, in this case, it is rather uncertain as the reduction was only minor in magnitude.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.