Photobiomodulatory effects of he- ne laser on wounded human skin fibroblasts

Low power laser irradiation (LPLI) is becoming an increasingly popular and fast growing therapeutic modality in dermatology to treat various ailments without any reported side effects. The present study was intended to examine the effect of He-Ne laser induced changes on cellular parameters in wounded monolayer human skin fibroblast cells grown in-vitro. To achieve the stated objective, uniform scratch (central scratch) was created on confluent monolayered human skin fibroblast cells, and were exposed to single dose of He-Ne laser (15 mm spot, 6.68 mWcm-2) at 5 and 7 Jcm-2 in the presence of 10 % fetal bovine serum (FBS) along with appropriate sham irradiated controls. Upon laser irradiation cell apoptosis, cell proliferation and mitochondrial membrane potential were documented at various time intervals. Immediate exposure of laser at 5 Jcm-2 significantly attenuated the cell apoptosis, induced drastic increase in mitochondrial membrane potential in wounded monolayer human skin fibroblast cells compared to sham irradiated controls. Further, single exposure of red light to wounded monolayer human skin fibroblast cells at 5 Jcm-2 significantly increased the cell proliferation compared to sham irradiated group. The findings of the present study demonstrated beneficial effects of He-Ne laser in wounded monolayer human skin fibroblast cells in a dose dependent manner. In conclusion, the low power laser irradiation augment various cellular processes in wounded monolayer human skin fibroblast cells resulting in enhanced tissue regeneration.