Studying infrared light therapy for treating Alzheimer's disease

Mengmeng Han; Qiyan Wang; Yuhui Zeng; Qingqiang Meng; Jun Zhang; Xunbin Wei

doi:10.1117/12.2212283

9 March 2016 Studying infrared light therapy for treating Alzheimer's disease

Mengmeng Han, Qiyan Wang, Yuhui Zeng, Qingqiang Meng, Jun Zhang, Xunbin Wei

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 9709, Biophotonics and Immune Responses XI; 97090Q (2016) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2212283
Event: SPIE BiOS, 2016, San Francisco, California, United States

Abstract

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is an extensive neurodegenerative disease. It is generally believed that there are some connections between AD and amyloid protein plaques in the brain. AD is a chronic disease that usually starts slowly and gets worse over time. The typical symptoms are memory loss, language disorders, mood swings and behavioral issues. Gradual losses of somatic functions eventually lead patients to death. Currently, the main therapeutic method is pharmacotherapy, which may temporarily reduce symptoms, but has many side effects. No current treatment can reverse AD's deterioration.

Infrared (IR) light therapy has been studied in a range of single and multiple irradiation protocols in previous studies and was found beneficial for neuropathology. In our research, we have verified the effect of infrared light on AD through Alzheimer's disease mouse model. This transgenic mouse model is made by co-injecting two vectors encoding mutant amyloid precursor protein (APP) and mutant presenilin-1 (PSEN1). We designed an experimental apparatus for treating mice, which primarily includes a therapeutic box and a LED array, which emits infrared light. After the treatment, we assessed the effects of infrared light by testing cognitive performance of the mice in Morris water maze.

Our results show that infra-red therapy is able to improve cognitive performance in the mouse model. It might provide a novel and safe way to treat Alzheimer's disease.

Citation Download Citation

Mengmeng Han, Qiyan Wang, Yuhui Zeng, Qingqiang Meng, Jun Zhang, and Xunbin Wei "Studying infrared light therapy for treating Alzheimer's disease", Proc. SPIE 9709, Biophotonics and Immune Responses XI, 97090Q (9 March 2016); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2212283

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