Effects of Continuous-Wave (670-nm) Red Light on Wound Healing

BACKGROUND Recent work suggests that injuries can heal faster if treated by lasers emitting 670-nm red light. LED lights emitting 670-nm light are now available. This suggests that inexpensive and easy-to-use 670-nm LED lights might help accelerate cutaneous wound healing.
OBJECTIVE The objective was to evaluate the effect of 670-nm LED light on wound healing in SKH-1 hairless mice.
METHODS To study 670-nm light effects on incisional injury, animals were left unexposed or exposed to equal doses of high-, medium-, or low-flux light. Burn injuries were treated with high-flux light or left unexposed. Healing was assessed by measurement of the burn area and the gap remaining to closure of incisional injury.
RESULTS Mice exposed to 670-nm red light showed significantly faster healing than control mice. High, medium, and low fluxes of light were all effective after incisional injury. In burn injury, there was improvement in wound healing initially, but the time to repair was unchanged.
CONCLUSIONS A 670-nm LED red light source accelerates healing in skin of SKH-1 hairless mice after incisional injuries, but is not as effective for burn injuries. These data that suggest red light exposure may be helpful in postoperative wound repair.     

Infective Endocarditis in Children: The Changing Profile

This article discusses the principles for diagnosis and treatment of infective endocarditis in children. There has generally been a consistent volume of streptococcus endocarditis, the major lesion in pediatric endocarditis, but there has been an increase in Staphylococcus aureus endocarditis as well as neonatal endocarditis. Neonatal endocarditis is a severe form of the disease.     

Localization of streptococcal antigens in tissues. I. Histologic distribution and persistence of M protein,types 1, 5, 12, and 19 in the tissues of the mouse

A method has been described for the detection of streptococcal antigens in tissues using the indirect immunofluorescent technique. This method has been applied to the histologic distribution in the mouse of M protein of types 1, 5, 12, and 19. Histologic localization of these M proteins was similar, and their rates of disappearance from the tissues were comparable. The major sites of deposition were the endocardium and adjacent subendocardium of the heart, alveolar walls of the lung, glomerular tufts of the kidney, and reticulo-endothelial cells of liver, spleen, lymph nodes, and adrenal gland. M protein was distributed in considerably lesser concentration in capillary endothelium and connective tissue sites in myocardium, kidney, skin, and gastrointestinal tract. Traces were also present in adrenal cortical cells. It was observed only rarely in cell nuclei. After injection of 0.5 mg. M protein fraction, the concentration of antigen diminished to undetectable levels in all organ sites by 4 days, except in the renal glomerulus, where traces were visible at 8 days. In mice injected with streptococcal culture intraperitoneally, M protein was detected at sites of focal abscesses in liver and spleen, and on the serous surfaces of these organs. The histologic distribution of M protein is compared with that described previously for pneumococcal polysaccharide and animal protein. Differences in the extent of distribution and in the characteristics of antigen deposition are pointed out.     

Blood pressure,cholesterol content of serum and tissues and atherogenesis in the rat

Rats on a stock diet with added cholesterol, cholic acid, and thiouracil developed increased concentrations of cholesterol, total lipide, and beta lipoprotein in the serum, and an increased content of cholesterol in the liver and carcass, despite the fact that the diet produced a cessation of endogenous cholesterol synthesis. Rats with high serum lipide concentrations developed intimal lesions similar to those of human atherosclerosis. The induction of hypertension by desoxycorticosterone and salt accelerated the development of hypercholesterolemia, hyperlipemia, increase in tissue cholesterol content, and atherosclerotic changes in the intima. Hypertension induced by renal artery constriction also intensified the hypercholesterolemia and hyperlipemia. On the other hand, rats receiving desoxycorticosterone acetate without salt or salt without desoxycorticosterone acetate did not show any intensification of hypercholesterolemia or hyperlipemia. The extent of the atherosclerotic lesions was correlated with the concentration of cholesterol in the serum. There was also a positive correlation between blood pressure and the degree of hypercholesterolemia. It remained uncertain whether the increase in atherosclerosis in the hypertensive animals was dependent on the increased lipide content of serum and tissues or on a local effect of the elevated blood pressure.