HELIUM-NEON LASER IRRADIATION IS NOT A STRESSFUL TREATMENT - A STUDY ON HEAT-SHOCK-PROTEIN (HSP70) LEVEL

Background and Objective: Helium-neon (He-Ne) laser irradiation has be en clinically used to reduce chemotherapy-induced mucositis. This work was designed to find out if this treatment is stressful at the cellul ar level by studying its effects on the level of the stress-inducible heat shock proteins. Study Design/Materials and Methods: Human desmodo ntal and mouse L929 fibroblasts were irradiated using a 60 mW laser by a single application of 1.5 and 3J/cm(2) in continuous mode. Heat sho ck protein level was studied by gel electrophoresis and Western blotti ng using monoclonal antibodies. Results: He-Ne laser treatment does no t induce heat shock protein synthesis in human desmodontal nor in mous e fibroblasts at the energy densities used in this study. Conclusion: These results indicate that the treatment is not stressful at the cell ular level. (C) 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.