Photobiomodulation reduces gliosis in the basal ganglia of aged mice

This study explored the effects of long-term photobiomodulation (PBM) on the glial and neuronal organization in the striatum of aged mice. Mice aged 12 months were pretreated with PBM (670 nm) for 20 minutes per day, commencing at 5 months old and continued for 8 months. We had 2 control groups, young at 3 months and aged at 12 months old; these mice received no treatment. Brains were aldehyde-fixed and processed for immunohistochemistry with various glial and neuronal markers. We found a clear reduction in glial cell number, both astrocytes and microglia, in the striatum after PBM in aged mice. By contrast, the number of 2 types of striatal interneurons (parvalbumin+ and encephalopsin+), together with the density of striatal dopaminergic terminals (and their midbrain cell bodies), remained unchanged after such treatment. In summary, our results indicated that long-term PBM had beneficial effects on the aging striatum by reducing glial cell number; and furthermore, that this treatment did not have any deleterious effects on the neurons and terminations in this nucleus.