Effects of Photobiomodulation on Functionality in Wistar Rats with Sciatic Nerve Injury.

A peripheral nerve injury (PNI) can result in motor or sensory disorders. Low-level laser therapy (LLLT) has demonstrated positive results as a treatment option for PNI. Wistar rats were divided into five groups: Control, Injury, Injury + LLLTn (nerve), Injury + LLLTm (muscle) and Injury + LLLTn + m (nerve and muscle irradiation). The groups were analyzed after one, two, three and four weeks. PNI was achieved by crushing the sciatic nerve. Laser treatment (780 nm, 3.2 J) was realized over the nerve and/or tibialis anterior muscle. In gait analyses, the groups irradiated over the nerve demonstrated an improvement after two weeks. In the analysis of mechanical sensitivity, the Injury + LLLTn demonstrated a reduction after one week in comparison with Injury group; the Injury + LLLTn + m and Injury + LLLTm demonstrated an increase after two weeks in comparison with Injury group; and the irradiated groups demonstrated a reduction in nociception after four weeks in comparison with Injury group. In the analysis of muscle atrophy, the Injury + LLLTn demonstrated more muscle mass after two weeks. LLLT improves functional aspects related to gait, mechanical sensitivity and muscle mass, with better results regarding motor aspects and muscle mass when administered over the injured nerve and better results regarding sensory aspects when administered over the muscle.

Effect of prior application with and without post-injury treatment with low-level laser on the modulation of key proteins in the muscle repair process.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of LLLT prior to muscle injury with and without post-injury irradiation on the expression of isoforms of myosin heavy chain (MyHC), calcineurin (CaN), and myostatin during the repair process. Wistar rats were divided into five groups: control (n = 7); injury (n = 21); LLLT + injury (n = 21); injury + LLLT (n = 21), and LLLT + injury + LLLT (n = 21). Cryoinjury was performed on the tibialis anterior (TA) muscle. The injured groups were euthanized at 3, 7, and 14 days after injury. LLLT was performed using an infrared laser (780 nm) with the following parameters: 10 J/cm2, 40 mW, 10 s per point, 8 points, and 3.2 J of total energy. At the end of each period, the TA muscle was removed for the analysis of MyHC, CaN, and myostatin gene expression using real-time PCR. The data were tested statistically by Kruskal-Wallis with Dunn's post hoc test (p < 0.05). The results demonstrated that prior irradiation reduced the mRNA expression of all proteins at 3 days. Post irradiation reduced the mRNA expression of MyHC-1, MyHC-2a, MyHC-2b, and CaN at 7 days. Prior irradiation combined with post-injury irradiation reduced the mRNA expression of MyHC-2x and CaN at 14 days and increased the mRNA expression of myostatin in the same period. In conclusion, different protocols of photobiomodulation can modulate the expression of the different isoforms of MyHC, CaN, and myostatin during the repair process. It is noteworthy that the combination of the prior and post-injury irradiation was the protocol that most promoted changes in the final phase of the repair process.