Collagen
Elastic fibers
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Combining Therapeutic Laser and Herbal
Remedy for Treating Ligament Injury:
An Ultrastructural Morphological Study
Gabriel Y.F. Ng, P.T., Ph.D., and Dicky T.C.
Fung, P.T., Ph.D.
Abstract
Objective:
We examined the
ultrastructural morphology (number of collagen fibrils, mean
and mass-averaged diameter) of isolated and combined
treatments of a therapeutic laser and herbs for medial
collateral ligament (MCL) injury in rats.
Materials and Methods: Twenty-eight
rats, divided into seven groups: laser (L), herb (H), laser
herb (LH), laser control (LC), herb control (HC), laser sham
(LS) and herb sham (HS), were studied. Right MCL of groups
L, H, LH, LC and HC were transected, while that of LS and HS
remained intact. Group L received 9 treatment sessions of
GaAlAs laser with a dosage of 3.5 Jcm2; group H received
herbal plaster treatment; groups LH had combined treatments
of laser and herb; group LC had placebo laser; group LS had
no treatment; groups HC and HS received only bandage without
herb. All MCLs were analyzed using transmission electron
microscopy at 3 weeks.
Results: Differences (p 0.05)
existed in mean fibril diameters among groups. Core
mass-averaged diameters of groups L and H were larger than
the control groups (LC and HC). Fibril diameter of group LH
(combined treatment) was even larger and approaching that of
the intact MCL.
Conclusion: Combined therapeutic
laser and herbal treatment hastened collagen fibril
maturation in MCL repair.
The influence of low-level laser therapy on biomodulation of collagen and elastic fibers
Pugliese LS, Medrado AP, Reis SR, Andrade Zde A.
Pesqui Odontol Bras. 2003 Oct-Dec;17(4):307-13. Epub 2004 Apr 19.
Department of Basic Science, Foundation for the Development of Science, Salvador. The study
of low-level laser therapy upon extracellular matrix elements is important to understand the
wound healing process under this agent. However, little is known about the interference of laser
light in relation to collagen and elastic fibers. Cutaneous wounds were performed on the back of
72 Wistar rats and a Ga-Al-As low-level laser was punctually applied with different energy
densities. The animals were killed after 24, 48, 72 hours and 5, 7 and 14 days. Tissues were
stained with hematoxilin-eosin, sirius red fast green and orcein and then analyzed. It was
observed that the treated group exhibited larger reduction of edema and inflammatory infiltrate.
The treated animals presented a larger expression of collagen and elastic fibers, although without statistical significance (p > 0.05). Treatment with a dosage of 4 J/cm(2) exhibited more
expressive results than that with 8 J/cm(2).
In this study, the authors concluded that low-level laser therapy contributed to a larger expression of collagen and elastic fibers during the early phases of the wound healing process.
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