Abstract
Wound healing is a critical process that activates tissue repair after
injury. In diabetes mellitus however, this process is deregulated and leads to the
development of non-healing diabetic ulcers. Current treatments, which include
glycaemic control and wound debridement are moderately effective as there is a
challenge of recurrence. Therefore, improved therapeutic strategies are required
for the treatment of diabetic ulcers. Photobiomodulation (PBM) at the red and
near-infrared (NIR) wavelength range has been shown to improve the healing of
cutaneous wounds by promoting cell proliferation and wound closure. The aim of
this study was to determine if PBM at a wavelength of 660 nm and a luence of 5
J/cm2 can induce wound healing in a diabetic wounded (DW) cellular model.
Human dermal ibroblasts (WS1) were continuously cultured in a high-glucose
environment to induce a diabetic state. Prior to irradiation/PBM, a central scratch
was created to create the “wound”. Cell migration and cell viability analyses were
performed 24 and 48 h post-PBM. The results showed that cell migration was
increased in irradiated diabetic wounded (DW) cells compared to the nonirradiated
control cells. The Trypan blue and MTT data showed no statistical
difference in cell viability and proliferation between irradiated and non-irradiated
cells at 24 and 48 h post-PBM. The preliminary indings of this study indicate that
PBM does not cause signiicant cell death and promotes “wound” closure in
diabetic wounded cells in vitro.