Non-invasive laser therapy could be an effective new treatment for stroke patients

People who experience a stroke have limited treatment options, but new research from Massachusetts General Hospital researchers reveals the possibility of non-invasive light therapy using a laser. The results are published in Rap.

“Unlike other approaches that use chemicals, which can be toxic to our body, laser light is a natural parameter. It does not stay in the body after the treatment and will have little chance of causing side effects,” said the author Satoshi Kashiwagi. , MD, Ph.D., Research Fellow in the Department of Radiology at Massachusetts General Hospital and Assistant Professor of Radiology at Harvard Medical School.

Kashiwagi and his colleagues were looking for new stroke treatments because the currently used combination therapy of intravenous thrombolysis and endovascular thrombectomy (the injection of clot-busting drugs and the surgical removal of a blood clot) is only effective when performed within a certain time frame and is only suitable for a fraction of patients.

Targeting the endothelial cells that line blood vessels represents a promising therapeutic strategy because the dysfunction of these cells is implicated in the development of stroke. Endothelial dysfunction is characterized by insufficient production of nitric oxide (NO), a gas that helps keep blood vessels open to allow blood to flow freely.

Noting that previous research has shown that laser therapy increases NO production in endothelial cells, the Mass General research team examined the effects of laser therapy in a mouse model of stroke.

They found that treating the head with low-power invisible laser light improved blood flow to the brain and reduced stroke injury. The experiments showed that mechanistically, laser therapy improved blood vessel function in the brain by stimulating NO production.

“We discovered a new way to effectively treat stroke using laser light, a method that is already widely used in the clinic for procedures such as Lasik eye surgery and tattoo removal, and has a known safety profile,” said Kashiwagi.

“Thus, we expect to be able to advance this technology into clinical trials relatively soon. This technology has the potential to replace the current standard treatment using chemicals, which can cause side effects.”

Laser therapy may also be effective for a wide range of other cardiovascular diseases characterized by NO deficiency.