This year marks the 50th anniversary of the discovery of the laser. The development of lasers for medical use, which became known as low-level laser therapy (LLLT) or photobiomodulation, followed in 1967. In recent years, LLLT has become an increasingly mainstream modality, especially in the areas of physical medicine and rehabilitation. At first used mainly for wound healing and pain relief, the medical applications of LLLT have broadened to include diseases such as stroke, myocardial infarction, and degenerative or traumatic brain disorders. This review will cover the mechanisms of LLLT that operate both on a cellular and a tissue level. Mitochondria are thought to be the principal photoreceptors, and increased adenosine triphosphate, reactive oxygen species, intracellular calcium, and release of nitric oxide are the initial events. Activation of transcription factors then leads to expression of many protective, anti-apoptotic, anti-oxidant, and pro-proliferation gene products. Animal studies and human clinical trials of LLLT for indications with relevance to neurology, such as stroke, traumatic brain injury, degenerative brain disease, spinal cord injury, and peripheral nerve regeneration, will be covered.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a rapidly developing cancer treatment that utilizes the combination of nontoxic dyes and harmless visible light to destroy tumors by generating reactive oxygen species. PDT produces tumor-cell destruction in the context of acute inflammation that acts as a 'danger signal' to the innate immune system. Activation of the innate immune system increases the priming of tumor-specific T lymphocytes that have the ability to recognize and destroy distant tumor cells and, in addition, lead to the development of an immune memory that can combat recurrence of the cancer at a later point in time. PDT may be also successfully combined with immunomodulating strategies that are capable of overcoming or bypassing the escape mechanisms employed by the progressing tumor to evade immune attack. This article will cover the role of the immune response in PDT anti-tumor effectiveness. It will highlight the milestones in the development of PDT-mediated anti-tumor immunity and emphasize the combination strategies that may improve this therapy. Keywordsanti-tumor immunity; cancer vaccines; cytotoxic T-lymphocytes; damage-associated molecular patterns; dendritic cells; photodynamic therapy; Toll-like receptor agonists; tumor-associated antigens Since Richard Nixon's declaration to make the 'conquest of cancer a national crusade', our understanding of the development and propagation of cancer has considerably improved. As a result of major investments in cancer research and cancer prevention, treatment and survival has significantly improved over the last 40 years [1]. Consequently, the increasing knowledge created by basic scientific research becomes gradually translated into more (and sometimes more effective) treatment options [2]. Despite the increasing emergence of drugs produced by biotechnological techniques, in 2008 half a million individuals diagnosed with cancer died from their disease in the USA [1].© 2011 Expert Reviews Ltd † Author for correspondence: Tel.: +1 617 726 6182, Fax: +1 617 726 8566, hamblin@helix.mgh.harvard.edu. Financial & competing interests disclosureThe authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed. No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript. NIH Public Access Author ManuscriptExpert Rev Clin Immunol. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2011 November 1. NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author ManuscriptSome of these drugs directed against tumor-associated factors such as ligands, receptors and transduction signaling factors are expensive, intrinsically cannot be used in a broad population of cancer patients and often fail to demonstrate their superiority over conventional chemotherapeutic drugs [3][4][5][6]. Furthermore, treating tumors with such 'onetarget' drugs poses other problems to physicians. Some tumors remain persist...

Background and Objective Low level light (or laser) therapy (LLLT) is a rapidly growing modality used in physical therapy, chiropractic, sports medicine and increasingly in mainstream medicine. LLLT is used to increase wound healing and tissue regeneration, to relieve pain and inflammation, to prevent tissue death, to mitigate degeneration in many neurological indications. While some agreement has emerged on the best wavelengths of light and a range of acceptable dosages to be used (irradiance and fluence), there is no agreement on whether continuous wave or pulsed light is best and on what factors govern the pulse parameters to be chosen. Study Design/Materials and Methods The published peer-reviewed literature was reviewed between 1970 and 2010. Results The basic molecular and cellular mechanisms of LLLT are discussed. The type of pulsed light sources available and the parameters that govern their pulse structure are outlined. Studies that have compared continuous wave and pulsed light in both animals and patients are reviewed. Frequencies used in other pulsed modalities used in physical therapy and biomedicine are compared to those used in LLLT. Conclusion There is some evidence that pulsed light does have effects that are different from those of continuous wave light. However further work is needed to define these effects for different disease conditions and pulse structures.

Throughout most of history, serious burns occupying a large percentage of body surface area were an almost certain death sentence because of subsequent infection. A number of factors such as disruption of the skin barrier, ready availability of bacterial nutrients in the burn milieu, destruction of the vascular supply to the burned skin, and systemic disturbances lead to immunosuppression combined together to make burns particularly susceptible to infection. In the 20th century the introduction of antibiotic and antifungal drugs, the use of topical antimicrobials that could be applied to burns, and widespread adoption of early excision and grafting all helped to dramatically increase survival. However the relentless increase in microbial resistance to antibiotics and other antimicrobials has led to a renewed search for alternative approaches to prevent and combat burn infections. This review will cover patented strategies that have been issued or filed with regard to new topical agents, preparations, and methods of combating burn infections. Animal models that are used in preclinical studies are discussed. Various silver preparations (nanocrystalline and slow release) are the mainstay of many approaches but antimicrobial peptides, topical photodynamic therapy, chitosan preparations, new iodine delivery formulations, phage therapy and natural products such as honey and essential oils have all been tested. This active area of research will continue to provide new topical antimicrobials for burns that will battle against growing multi-drug resistance.

Islamic bioethics is an emerging phenomenon, with a recent proliferation of introductory literature seeking to describe the scope, parameters, and players of the field. However, this paper critically assesses the enterprise of Islamic bioethics as it stands today and argues that it lacks conceptual clarity. This leads to some very problematic assumptions made by Muslim and non-Muslim authors alike, which results in essentialist and reductionist discourses that privilege majoritarian, authoritarian, and conservative forms of religious and state authority at the expense of competing, dissenting, and reformist voices. I suggest using the principles of religious literacy (as endorsed by the American Academy of Religion) to bring much needed conceptual clarity to the field, to understand Islamic bioethics as a contested space of academic theology, and to promote a more inclusive discourse.

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