Table 1.
Summary of included experimental studies evaluating LLLT in inflammatory disease.
| Characteristics of included experimental studies | Laser information | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Study | Human/animal | Model | Groups | Treatment schedule | Continuous | Location | Laser | Wavelength (nm) | Power (mW) | Density (J/cm2) |
| Ablon et al. | Human | Psoriasis | x | 10 treatments over 5 weeks OR 8 treatments over 4 weeks (varied by patient) | Y | 5 cm from skin; various locations over the body | Omnilux, Photo Therapeutics (Carlsbad, CA) | 633, 830 | NS | 126 (633 nm), 60 (830 nm) |
| Alves et al. | Male Wistar rats (12 weeks) | Collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) | Control: RA without treatment; RA treated early; RA treated late | Daily; early stage: 7 days Daily; late stage: 14 days |
Y | 1 treatment point: middle of the front side of the knee joint (spot size 0.214 cm2) | MMOptics, São Carlos, Brazil | 780 | 22 | 7.7 |
| Araki et al. | MH7A human synovial cell | Human rheumatoid arthritis | x | Once, cells harvested 3 h after irradiation | Pulsed frequency 1 Hz | Over cell plate | Linear polarized near infrared light (Super Lizer™) | 600–1600 | 250 | 3.8 |
| Female Lewis rats | Collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) | x | Once | Knee | 600–1600 | 250 | 7.64 | |||
| Goncalves et al. | Female C57BL/6 mice | Experimental autoimmune encephalitis (mouse model of multiple sclerosis) | (I) Naïve: not immunized and untreated (II) EAE: immunized and untreated |
Daily, 30 days | Y | 6 positions on the spinal cord .5 cm apart | ||||
| (III) 660 nm: immunized and treated with AlGaInP LLLT | AlGaInP | 660 | 30 | 10 | ||||||
| (IV) 904 nm: immunized and treated with GaAs LLLT | GaAS | 904 | 70 | 10 | ||||||
| Issa et al. | FVB mice | Acute arthritis: zymosan A Chronic arthritis: collagen bovine type II |
G1: acute | Once: 15 min post-injection (euthanasia 24 h) | 200 ns pulse 10,000 Hz | Knee joint | Flat top beam, Theralase | 905 | 60 | 5 |
| G2: acute | Twice: 15 min, 24 h (euthanasia 48 h) | |||||||||
| G3: chronic | 3 times/week, 4 weeks for 12 total treatments | |||||||||
| Krespi et al. | Human; positive nasal vestibular culture by swab for MSSA or MRSA |
Nasal colonization with MSSA/MRSA |
Laser only (870–930 nm, at 200 J) Laser followed by peroxide irrigation Laser and E-mycin application |
Days 1, 3, 5 | Y | Sinus | Near-infrared laser illumination | 870–930 | 3000–4000 | NS |
| Laser only (940 nm at 600 J) | 940 | 3000–4000 | ||||||||
| Krespi and Kizhner | Human; persistent chronic rhinosinusitis symptoms, with or without polyposis | Chronic rhinosinusitis | Sinus laser illumination only (GR1) | Two or three times (based on response: better responders received two treatments), 5 days between laser illuminations | Y | Sinus | NIR diode laser at 940 nm (ARC Lasers, Nurnberg, Germany) | 940 | 4000 | NS |
| Topical diluted ICG (Akorn, Lake Forest, IL) followed by sinus laser illumination (GR2) | 810-nm NIR diode laser (ARC Lasers, Nurnberg) | 810 | ||||||||
| Lazovic et al. | Human | Carpal tunnel syndrome | Experimental: active laser Control: no laser Sham: placebo, sham laser |
5 times per week for 2 weeks; 10 times every other day for 3 weeks Total: 20 treatments |
Y | 4 points perpendicular to the skin over carpal tunnel (90 s each) | GaA1As diode laser | 780 | 30 | 3.4 per point of application |
| Omi et al. | Human | Skin | 3-mm skin punch biopsies were obtained 3 h, 1 day, 3 days, 1 weeks, 2 weeks, 4 weeks, and 5 weeks after irradiation | Once | Pulsed | Skin on the fibula | Chromogenex V3 laser | 585 | NS | 3 |
| Silva et al. | Mice | Allergic asthma, mouse model | Protocol I: 4 groups: mice treated once at various times | Treated at 5 min, 1 h, 6 h or 12 h post-antigenic challenge | Y | Skin over the bronchus | CW laser diode module (MMOptics, São Paulo, Brazil) | 660 | 30 | 375 mW cm−2 |
| Protocol II: mice treated 4 consecutive times | Treated at 5 min, 1 h, 6 h and 12 h post-antigenic challenge | |||||||||
| Souza et al. | Human monocytic cell line; U937 cells | Alveolar macrophage model: U937 cells | Cells were stimulated with H2O2 and 4 h later LPS was added; all cells were irradiated once, 1 h post-LPS | Once | Y | Over cell plate | CW laser diode module (MMOptics, São Paulo, Brazil) | 660 | 30 | 4.5 |
| Stitch et al. | Dog | Canine atopic dermatitis | Prospective, randomized, double-blinded, intra-individual study; each dog served as its own placebo control | Weeks 1 and 2: 3 times/week, (no > 1 consecutive treatment). Weeks 3 and 4: 2 laser treatments/week | Y | Both the dorsal and the ventral aspects of paws | CTC Companion Compact laser (Companion Therapy Laser; LiteCure LLC, Newark, DE, USA) | 810–980 | 4000 | 4 |
| Waiz et al. | Human | Treatment-resistant alopecia areata | All patients were treated; patients with multiple patches had one patch untreated as a control | Once weekly, 4 days total | Pulsed | In contact with skin; applied to various areas of the body with patches of AA | Patented dental unit (Mario Scalvini, Italian National Research Council) | 904 | 150,000 | NS |
| Wang et al. | Wistar rats | Allergic asthma, rat model | (I) Control; (II) asthmatic; (III) LLLT; (IV) budesonide (standard of care) | Daily, 21 days total | Y | Chest | Semiconductor laser (Laser Medicine Laboratory, Biomedical Engineering Institute, Chinese Academy of Medical Science, Beijing, China | 810 | 80 | 5 |
| Yamato et al. | Rat | Glomerulonephritis—anti-GBM antibody | One experimental group | Daily, 14 days total | Y | Laser applied externally to skin overlying both kidneys | Ga-Al-As diode laser; model ZH-M143DJP, Panasonic Industrial Equipment, Tokyo, Japan | 830 | 2000 | 220 |
| Zhang et al. | Rat | Type II collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) | (I) CIA untreated (II) CIA rats treated with LLLT |
3 times per week for 2 weeks | Y | Knee joint | Ga-Al-As diode laser (model ZH-M143DJP, Panasonic Industrial Equipment, Tokyo, Japan) | 830 | 500 | 7.64 |
NS not specified