Low-level laser therapy enhances the expression of osteogenic factors during bone repair in rats

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of low-level laser therapy (LLLT) on bone formation, immunoexpression of osteogenic factors, and biomechanical properties in a tibial bone defect model in rats. Sixty male Wistar rats were distributed into bone defect control group (CG) and laser irradiated group (LG). Animals were euthanized on days 15, 30, and 45 post-injury. The histological and morphometric analysis showed that the treated animals presented no inflammatory infiltrate and a better tissue organization at 15 and 30 days postsurgery. Also, a higher amount of newly formed bone was observed at 15 days postsurgery. No statistically significant difference was observed in cyclooxygenase-2 immunoexpression among the groups at 15, 30, and 45 days in the immunohistochemical analysis. Considering RUNX-2, the immunoexpression was statistically higher in the LG compared to the CG at 45 days. BMP-9 immunoexpression was significantly higher in the LG in comparison to CG at day 30. However, there was no expressivity for this immunomarker, both in the CG and LG, at the day 45 postsurgery. No statistically significant difference was observed in the receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa-B ligand immunoexpression among the groups in all periods evaluated. No statistically significant difference among the groups was observed in the maximal load in any period of time. Our findings indicate that laser therapy improved bone healing by accelerating the development of newly formed bone and activating the osteogenic factors on tibial defects, but the biomechanical properties in LG were not improved.