Abstract
M.Tech. (Biomedical Technology)
Collagen Type I (Col- I) as well as collagen types III and V, form most of the connective tissues, smooth muscle cells and, endothelial cells in wound healing (Stuart and Leaper, 2008). Col-I is also the main extracellular matrix (ECM) protein (Ricard-Blum and Ruggiero, 2005). Low intensity laser irradiation (LILI) is a non-invasive, photobiomodulatory therapy. Huang et al., (2009a) have shown LILI to be involved in Col-I production both in vitro and in vivo. Enhanced collagen production in human skin fibroblasts is common shortly after irradiation (Illsley et al., 2000). However, its synthesis in wounded fibroblasts has not been well established in an in vitro model. Healing is impaired in chronic diabetic wounds which exhibit reduced proliferation rate and collagen synthesis (Beldon, 2010; Falanga, 2005). Studies have shown that LILI using a wavelength of 632.8 nm was not the only wavelength biostimulated in cultured cells: biological responses were also generated from various wavelengths within the visible to Near Infrared (NIR) spectral region (Hawkins and Abrahamse, 2005; Karu and Kolyakov, 2005).
This study aimed to establish if LILI influenced collagen production and related cellular responses at a wavelength of 660 or 830 nm, with a fluence of 5 J/cm2 in an in vitro normal and wounded fibroblasts model. The study also evaluated the expression profiling of genes related to the ECM and adhesion.
This study was performed on isolated human skin fibroblasts collected from a consenting adult undergoing abdominoplasty. Cells were routinely cultured according to standard techniques (Houreld and Abrahamse, 2010; Hawkins and Abrahamse, 2007a; Hawkins and Abrahamse, 2006a; Hawkins and Abrahamse, 2005).