Objective: This study investigated the clinical effects of intravascular laser irradiation of blood (ILIB) therapy on oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction in subjects with chronic spinal cord injury (SCI) resulting from trauma.
Background data: Little is known about how ILIB may generate antioxidant defenses in humans, and there is still a lack of randomized, sham-control studies to indicate its influence on different metabolic pathways.
Methods: Twenty-four chronic SCI subjects (assigned to a sham and a study group), and 12 normal subjects were recruited. The study group underwent 1 h daily of ILIB for 15 days over 3 weeks. The sham group underwent ILIB with no laser power.
Results: Baseline measurements established higher oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction in the SCI subjects than in the normal subjects. At day 15 of therapy, the study group revealed a significantly higher mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) copy number, white blood cell adenosine triphosphate (WBC ATP) synthesis, and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) with significantly reduced malondialdehyde (MDA), than did the sham group. The study group intragroup comparison revealed significantly increased mtDNA copy numbers, WBC ATP synthesis, and TAC, with significantly reduced MDA, compared with its baseline measurements. The sham group intragroup comparisons demonstrated no statistical differences. Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) in the study group was significantly reduced at days 10 and 15, with significantly higher high-density lipoprotein (HDL) at day 45.
Conclusions: Our study results contribute to the knowledge about the effectiveness of ILIB in alleviating oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction in chronic SCI patients.