Assessment of the immune status of women after ablative fractional laser photothermolysis procedure for the correct of involutional facial skin changes

Abstract

Introduction. Ablative fractional laser photothermolysis (A-FLPh), used for rejuvenation of aging skin, is based on its controlled damage. Factors of the immune system are involved in the reparative regeneration processes triggered, which, in turn, is also subject to age-related remodeling or immunostaining. The aim of the work was to evaluate in dynamics the response of the immune system to the A-FLPh procedure performed for correction of age-associated facial skin changes. Materials and methods. The study included 25 women aged 42 to 55 years who underwent A-FLPh treatment of facial skin with an Erbium laser. The number of leukocytes, monocytes, neutrophils, lymphocytes, T-lymphocytes, T-helpers, cytotoxic T-cells, regulatory T-cells, NKT-lymphocytes, NK-lymphocytes were counted in the peripheral blood before, on the 8th and 24th after the procedure. We studied phagocytic function of neutrophils and monocytes, NBT-reducing and lysosomal activity of neutrophils; determined the amount of IgA, IgM, IgG, IL-4, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, circulating immune complexes (CIC). Results. On the 8th day after A-FLPh, the number of neutrophils, neutrophils and monocytes phagocytosis, the number of lymphocytes, regulatory T-cells, IL-6 and IL-8 levels significantly increased; in parallel, the number of CD11b+ NK-lymphocytes, CD11b+ NKT-lymphocytes, IgA, IgG, IL-10 concentrations decreased. On the 24th day, quantitative functional indices of neutrophils, total number of lymphocytes, concentrations of IgA and IgG had no reliable difference from pre-procedure values, phagocytic parameters of monocytes, number of regulatory T-cells, IL-6 and IL-8 levels remained significantly higher, while the number of CD11b+ NK-lymphocytes, CD11b+ NKT-lymphocytes and IL-10, on the contrary, significantly lower than the initial level. Discussion. The revealed changes of systemic immunity indices after A-FLPh testify to both direct and regulatory-modulatory influence of immune factors on skin repair and remodeling after laser damage. Conclusion. The A-FLPh procedure induces a response from both cellular and humoral factors of the immune system, predominantly innate immunity.