Laser enhancement in hepatic regeneration for partially hepatectomized rats.
OBJECTIVE
The bio-stimulation effect of laser has been observed in many areas of Medicine. However, there are a few works which investigate its use for liver regeneration. Most of their results were inconclusive due to the use of high power lasers. This work was carried out to investigate the bio-stimulation effect of laser in liver regeneration using low power lasers.


METHODS
We used Wistar male rats, which were irradiated with laser light (wavelength 590 nm and intensity of 50 mW/cm(2)) for 5 minutes after 70% hepatectomy. The respiratory mitochondrial activity, the serum level of aminotransferase and the PCNA were measured.


RESULTS
Our results show a dramatic increase in the mitochondrial activity for the laser treated group at 24 hours after the hepatectomy.


CONCLUSIONS
We conclude that the laser promotes a bio-stimulation effect on the early stages of liver regeneration without any detectable damage of the cells.
de Castro e Silva  Júnior
O
O
Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Cx. Postal 369, 13560-970, São Carlos, SP, Brazil.
Zucoloto
S
S
Menegazzo
L A
LA
Granato
R G
RG
Marcassa
L G
LG
Bagnato
V S
VS
D000818:Animals; D006498:Hepatectomy; D053685:Laser Therapy; D008115:Liver Regeneration; D008297:Male; D008930:Mitochondria, Liver / Q000528:radiation effects; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013997:Time Factors