https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/jbio.201700282

Comment; So Photobiomodulation (PBM) can restore the thymus gland, a gland that shrivels, shrinks and becomes inactive with age. OK. I’d like to see long-term studies that it doesn’t also promote lymphoma and other forms of abnormal cell growth; if we remove normal regulation, can we be setting ourselves up for future problems?


Denis Odinokov
Michael R. HamblinFirst published: 11 December 2017 https://doi.org/10.1002/jbio.201700282 Cited by: 2Funding information National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Grant/Award numbers: R01AI050875, R21AI121700Read the full textPDFTOOLSSHARE

Abstract

Thymic atrophy and the subsequent reduction in T‐cell production are the most noticeable age‐related changes affecting lymphoid organs in the immune system. In fact, thymic involution has been described as “programmed aging.” New therapeutic approaches, such as photobiomodulation (PBM), may reduce or reverse these changes. PBM (also known as low‐level laser therapy) involves the delivery of non‐thermal levels of red or near‐infrared light that are absorbed by mitochondrial chromophores, in order to prevent tissue death and stimulate healing and regeneration. PBM may reverse or prevent thymic involution due to its ability to induce extrapineal melatonin biosynthesis via cyclic adenosine monophosphate (AMP) or NF‐kB activation, or alternatively by stimulating bone marrow stem cells that can regenerate the thymus. This perspective puts forward a hypothesis that PBM can alter thymic involution, improve immune functioning in aged people and even extend lifespan.

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Dr. Raymond Oenbrink