Laser enhancement in hepatic regeneration for partially hepatectomized rats

Background and Objective: The bio-stimulation effect of laser has been obse rved in many areas of Medicine. However, there are a few works which invest igate its use for liver regeneration. Most of their results were inconclusi ve due to the use of high power lasers. This work was carried out to invest igate the bio-stimulation effect of laser in liver regeneration using low p ower lasers. Study Design/Materials and Methods: We used Wistar male rats, which were ir radiated with laser light (wavelength 590 nm and intensity of 50 mW/cm(2)) for 5 minutes after 70% hepatectomy. The respiratory mitochondrial activity , the serum level of aminotransferase and the PCNA were measured. Results: Our results show a dramatic increase in the mitochondrial activity for the laser treated group at 24 hours after the hepatectomy. Conclusion: We conclude that the laser promotes a biastimulation effect on the early stages of liver regeneration without any detectable damage of the cells. (C) 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.