Fig 5. Chronic treatment with photobiomodulation suppresses α-syn-induced dopaminergic fiber denervation in the striatum.

(A) Photomicrographs illustrating dopaminergic (TH+) fiber loss in the ipsilateral striatum. The slices were stained using anti-TH antibody and the signal revealed a reduction in TH+ fiber immunoreactivity in the ipsilateral striatum (* injected side). In the treated groups, the immunostaining revealed less TH+ fiber loss in the injected side. Scale bar = 1mm. (B) Optical density quantification of the TH+ dopaminergic fibers in the striatum. Results are expressed as % of TH+ staining signal intensity in the contralateral side. The quantification revealed a dramatic dopaminergic fiber denervation in the ipsilateral striatum. This reduction was not observed after treatment with PBM. A significant effect was only observed with the fluence rate of 5mW/cm² (## p<0.01, Tukey’s test).