Abstract

Background/purpose: In vivo studies have demonstrated that phototherapy accelerates wound healing in the clinical environment; however the exact mechanism is still not completely understood. The main focus of this study was to use in vitro laboratory results to establish an effective treatment regimen that may be practical and applicable to the clinical environment. This in vitro study aimed to compare the cellular responses of wounded fibroblasts following a single exposure of 5 J/cm² or multiple exposures of low doses (2.5 J/cm² or 5 J/cm²) on one day of the week to a single application of a higher dose (16 J/cm²) on day 1 and day 4. Methodology: Cellular responses to Helium-Neon (632.8 nm) laser irradiation were evaluated by measuring changes in cell morphology, cell viability, cell proliferation, membrane integrity and DNA damage. Results : Wounded cells exposed to 5 J/cm² on day 1 and day 4 showed an increase in cell viability, increase in the release of bFGF, increase in cell density, decrease in ALP enzyme activity and decrease in caspase 3/7 activity indicating a stimulatory effect. Wounded cells exposed to three doses of 5 J/cm² on day 1 showed a decrease in cell viability and cell proliferation and an increase in LDH cytotoxicity and DNA damage indicating an inhibitory effect. Conclusion: Results indicate that cellular responses are influenced by the combination of dose administered, number of exposures and time between exposures. Single doses administered with sufficient time between exposures is more beneficial to restoring cell function than multiple doses within a short period. Although this work confirms previous reports on the cumulative effect of laser irradiation it provides essential information for the initiation of in vivo clinical studies.

© 2007 SPIE