Influence of ingaalp laser (660nm) on the healing of skin wounds in diabetic rats.

PURPOSE To determine the influence of low-power laser (660 nm) on the collagen percentage and macrophages in skin wounds in diabetic rats. METHODS 30 male Wistar rats were used, distributed in two groups: laser treated diabetic (n= 15); untreated diabetic (n = 15). The diabetes was induced by intravenous injection of alloxan into the dorsal vein of the penis, at a rate of 0.1 ml of solution per 100 g of body weight. A wound was made on the back of all the animals. Groups 2 were treated with Aluminium Gallium Indium Phosphide - InGaAlP type diode laser (Photon Laser III DMC) with a continuous output power of 100 mW and wavelength (lambda) of 660 nm (4 J/cm(2)) for 24 s. five animal from each group was sacrificed on the 3rd, 7th and 14th days after wounding. Samples were taken, embedded in paraffin, stained with hematoxylin-eosin, Masson's trichrome, and immunohistochemical macrophage. morphometrically analyzed using the Image Pro Plus 4.5 software. The percentages of collagen fibers and macrophages were determined from the samples from the euthanasia animals. RESULTS The data were treated statistically using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the Post-hocTukey test. The significance level was set at 0.05 or 5%. CONCLUSION The low-power laser (660 nm) was shown to be capable of influencing the collagen percentage in skin wounds by increasing the mean quantity of collagen fibers and macrophages.