Study on the neuroprotective effects of the Multiwave Locked System Laser in an experimental model of ischaemia

The collaboration between a group of researchers from the University of Florence and ASAcampus Joint Laboratory has led to a wide-ranging research on the neuroprotective effects of the Multiwave Locked System Laser developed by ASA in ischaemia.
A well-established model of an in vitro cerebral ischaemia was used for this research: i.e. the deprivation of oxygen and glucose (Oxygen Glucose Deprivation; OGD) on organotypic cultures of rat hippocampus, a brain structure implicated in memory. The organotypic slices are obtained from hippocampal sections taken from 7-day-old new-born rats and kept in culture for two weeks. These slices preserve and reproduce the cytoarchitecture and physiology of the hippocampal tissue, an organ that is among the first to be affected by the ischemic insult.
The exposure of the slices to OGD for 30 minutes leads to the selective death of the pyramidal neurons of the CA1 region of the hippocampus, seen 24 hours after the ischemic insult.

The neuronal damage caused by the OGD and the neuroprotective effect of the laser were measured qualitatively and quantitatively thanks to immunohistochemical techniques associated with confocal laser microscopy in collaboration with the IFAC Institute of the Florence CNR.

Research focused on changes affecting microglia cells, the brain's resident immune system.

It has been shown that OGD causes a significant increase in a particular form of microglia involved in the phagocytosis of neurons damaged by ischaemia, called "Rod Microglia".
The results obtained are very interesting. In fact, the application of the laser on the organotypic slices not only significantly protects the neurons damaged by OGD, but also prevents the appearance of Rod microglia.

This study lays the foundations for many research perspectives in the field of photobiomodulation using near infrared laser radiation (NIR) and demonstrates the effectiveness of MLS^® and its MiS device against ischemic damage in the brain. The study, which was recently published in the "International Journal of Molecular Sciences", confirms and extends the results obtained by a first research already published in 2021 (Molecular Neurobiology).