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The effects of laser on the immune system have not been extensively characterized. Low power laser sources, such as GaAlAs laser have been found to produce photo biological effects with evidence of interference with immunological functions. We have investigated the effects of GaAlAs laser irradiation on the immune response due to Mycobacterium bovis BCG infection in mice. BALB/C mice were exposed on the abdomen skin to GaAlAs laser radiation (810 nm) for 3 consequent days (Days = -2, -1, 0) before infection with 1 x 106 live units of Mycobacterium bovis Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) in the footpad. 21 days later groups of mice were tested for a delayed type hypersensitivity (DTH) response to the purified protein derivative (PPD) of tubercle bacilli and the course of infection was monitored by measuring the size of the infected footpad. In the mice treated by laser, the DTH response to PPD was significantly suppressed (P-value<0.045) compared to unirradiated mice, when tested 21 days after BCG infection. When laser irradiated 13 days after BCG infection (Days: +13, +14, +15) BALB/C mice did not show a significant decrease in their DTH response to PPD indicating that the laser-induced suppression of BCG occurs only at the induction stage of the immune response. Thus mice exposed to the laser radiation before BCG infection showed an impaired DTH response to Mycobacterium, whereas mice exposed to the laser irradiation after BCG did not. These studies demonstrate that a systemic effect of laser irradiation can suppress the development and expression of immunity to pathogenic bacteria in mice. This suppression could be at the induction stage of the immune response (DTH) but not the elicitation stage. Also it seems that laser radiation, potentially, could have side effects for the immune system, on the basis of suppression effects it has shown on DTH response.
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