Laser Prevents Muscle Tissue Damage Induced by Snake Venom

A rat tibialis anterior muscle was injected with venom. Sixty minutes after venom injection, 632.8nm laser (HeNe)  was administered at three incident energy densities. They concluded that HeNe laser irradiation at a dosage of 3.5 J cm2 (the lowest “dose” administered in this study) effectively reduced myonecrosis and the neuromuscular transmission blocking effect caused by the snake venom.

Regular readers of this blog will know that I am agaanst the use of J/cm2 as an expression of dose but thats all I have to go on just at this moment. Here is the full abstract:

The Ability of Low Level Laser Therapy to Prevent Muscle Tissue Damage Induced by Snake Venom.

Doin-Silva R, Baranauskas V, Rodrigues-Simioni L, da Cruz-Hofling MA

Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, SP, Brazil.

Antivenom therapy has been ineffective in neutralizing the severe local fast developing tissue damage following snakebite envenoming. Herein, some effects of in situ helium neon (HeNe) laser irradiation on rat nerve-muscle preparation injected with Bothrops jararacussu venom are described. The tibialis anterior muscle was injected with venom diluted in 0.9% saline solution (60 mug/0.02 mL) or saline solution alone. Sixty minutes after venom injection, laser (HeNe) treatment was administered at three incident energy densities: dose 1, a single exposure of 3.5 J cm(-2); dose 2, three exposures of 3.5 J cm(-2); dose 3, a single exposure of 10.5 J cm(-2). Muscle function was assessed through twitch tension recordings whereas muscle damage was evaluated through histopathologic analysis, morphometry of area of tissue affected and creatine kinase (CK) serum levels, and compared to unirradiated muscles. Laser application at the dose of 3.5 J cm(-2) reduced the area of injury by 64% (15.9 +/- 1.5%vs 44.2 +/- 5.7%), decreased the neuromuscular blockade (NMB) by 62% (11.5 +/- 2.5%vs 30.4 +/- 5.2%) and reduced CK levels by 58% (from 455 +/- 4.5% to 190.3 +/- 23.4%) when compared with unirradiated controls. Dose 2 showed a poorer benefit than dose 1, and dose 3 was ineffective in preventing the venom effects. Measurements of the absorbance of unirradiated and irradiated venom solution showed no difference in absorption spectra. In addition, no difference in the intensity of partial NMB in nerve-muscle preparation was shown by unirradiated and irradiated venom. The results indicate that the laser light did not alter venom toxicity. We conclude that HeNe laser irradiation at a dosage of 3.5 J cm(-2) effectively reduces myonecrosis and the neuromuscular transmission blocking effect caused by B. jararacussu snake venom. Thus, low level laser therapy may be a promising tool to minimize the severity of some of the local effects of snake envenoming.

Photochem Photobiol 2008 Jul 17

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Citation&list_uids=18643907