Effects of transcranial photobiomodulation with near‐infrared light on sexual dysfunction

Cassano, Paolo; Dording, Christina; Thomas, Garrett; Foster, Simmie L.; Yeung, Albert; Uchida, Mai; Hamblin, Michael R.; Bui, Éric; Fava, Maurizio; Mischoulon, David; Iosifescu, Dan V.

doi:10.1002/lsm.23011

Cited by 17 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 24 publications

(35 reference statements)

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“…The New England IRB currently and the Partners IRB in 2009 both determined that the device posed no significant risk. In other published tPBM studies no significant side effects have been reported to date ( 5 , 8 , 9 , 12 , 37 , 42 – 47 ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 77%

“…Caldieraro and Cassano have speculated that tPBM might act through induced electromagnetic fields ( 54 ), and Schiffer has speculated that these changes might involve quantum effects due to alterations in biophoton emissions from tubulin molecules encoding brain information related to experiences ( 55 ), but these speculations have not yet been tested. What is clear, however, is that several studies have reported psychological benefits from bilateral tPBM ( 9 , 37 , 42 , 44 ), including one case report of a 31-month treatment ( 56 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A Novel Treatment of Opioid Cravings With an Effect Size of .73 for Unilateral Transcranial Photobiomodulation Over Sham

Schiffer

Reichmann²,

Flynn

et al. 2020

Front. Psychiatry

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Background Opioid use disorders (OUDs) are an epidemic causing catastrophic consequences to individuals, families, and society despite treatments including psychotherapy, substitution therapy or receptor blockers, and psychoeducation. We have developed a novel treatment that combines unilateral transcranial photobiomodulation (t-PBM) to the hemisphere with a more positive valence by Dual Brain Psychology (DBP). Methods We used a randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled protocol in which 22 patients with significant opioid cravings and a history of recent or current OUD attended three 1-h weekly sessions. After baseline measures of opioid craving and other psychometrics, subjects received two unilateral t-PBM applications (810 nm CW LED, 250 mW/cm 2 , 60 J/cm 2 , 4 min) or a sham (foil-covered LED) at F3 or F4. Prior to any treatment we used two tests to determine which hemisphere was more associated with a negative outlook and cravings and treated that side before the more positive hemisphere. Primary outcome measure was an opioid craving scale (OCS). Secondary outcomes were weekly Hamilton Depression (HDRS) and Anxiety (HARS) Rating Scales prior to treatments and at follow-up. Results Immediately after treatment the OCS improved significantly for both the sham and active treatments, but one week later the active treatment showed a 51.0% (SD 33.7) decrease in OCS while a week after the sham treatments there was a decrease of only 15.8% (SD 35.0) (by Wilcoxon Sign Rank Test, p = 0.004) and by a mixed model it was p = 0.0071. The effect size for the differences between active and sham was 0.73. For the active treatment from before and after treatment the effect size was 1.51 and for the sham, 0.45. The HDRS improved from a baseline of 15.1 to 8.8 (SD 10.3) a week after the active treatment and to 13.3 (SD 12.9) after the sham (p = 0.0071). HARS improved from 14.7 to 8.0 (SD 13.2) after the active treatments and to 14.3 (SD 16.0) after the sham, p = 0.08. Active treatment of the positive hemisphere after the negative hemisphere significantly improved the OCS, but there was no significant difference after the sham treatment. One patient complained of 2 h of abdominal bloating and dropped out; no other adverse effects were observed. Discussion Unilateral t-PBM to the hemisphere with a more positive hemispheric emotional valence was an effective and safe treatment for opioid cravings as well as for depression and anxiety. Our results also lend support to the underlying premises of DBP.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 77%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Novel Treatment of Opioid Cravings With an Effect Size of .73 for Unilateral Transcranial Photobiomodulation Over Sham

Schiffer

Reichmann²,

Flynn

et al. 2020

Front. Psychiatry

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“…A recently published book presents a thorough collection of studies on tPBM, covering topics of tPBM on cultured neurons and molecular mechanisms, studies with animal models, and clinical studies of patients with a variety of neurological diseases [8]. Intriguingly, a recent exploratory study with a small sample size reported that tPBM was also able to improve sexual dysfunction by an array of light emitting diodes at 823 nm with an area of 28.7 cm 2 on each side of the dorsolateral prefrontal region [9]. It has been well‐accepted by researchers in the field that the mechanism of tPBM with NIR light is based on the photo‐oxidation of cytochrome c oxidase (CCO), the terminal enzyme in the electron transport chain, which catalyzes the oxygen metabolism for cellular adenosine triphosphate (ATP) production [3,10,11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transcranial Photobiomodulation (tPBM) With 1,064‐nm Laser to Improve Cerebral Metabolism of the Human Brain In Vivo

Pruitt

Wang

et al. 2020

Lasers Surg Med

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Background and Objectives: In our previous proof-ofprinciple study, transcranial photobiomodulation (tPBM) with 1,064-nm laser was reported to significantly increase concentration changes of oxygenated hemoglobin (Δ[HbO]) and oxidized-state cytochrome c oxidase (Δ[oxi-CCO]) in the human brain. This paper further investigated (i) its validity in two different subsets of young human subjects at two study sites over a period of 3 years and (ii) age-related effects of tPBM by comparing sham-controlled increases of Δ[HbO] and Δ[oxi-CCO] between young and older adults. Study Design/Materials and Methods: We measured sham-controlled Δ[HbO] and Δ[oxi-CCO] using broadband near-infrared spectroscopy (bb-NIRS) in 15 young (26.7 ± 2.7 years of age) and 5 older (68.2 ± 4.8 years of age) healthy normal subjects before, during, and after right-forehead tPBM/sham stimulation with 1,064-nm laser. Student t tests were used to test statistical differences in tPBMinduced Δ[HbO] and Δ[oxi-CCO] (i) between the 15 young subjects and those of 11 reported previously and (ii) between the two age groups measured in this study. Results: Statistical analysis showed that no significant difference existed in Δ[HbO] and Δ[oxi-CCO] during and post tPBM between the two subsets of young subjects at two study sites over a period of 3 years. Furthermore, the two age groups showed statistically identical net increases in sham-controlled Δ[HbO] and Δ[oxi-CCO]. Conclusions: This study provided strong evidence to validate/confirm our previous findings that tPBM with 1,064-nm laser enables to increase cerebral Δ[HbO] and Δ[oxi-CCO] in the human brain, as measured by bb-NIRS. Overall, it demonstrated the robust reproducibility of tPBM being able to improve cerebral hemodynamics and metabolism of the human brain in vivo in both young and older adults. Lasers Surg. Med.

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“…tPBM (29,34,35) is a newer part of the burgeoning field of photobiomodulation. tPBM has been used for cognitive enhancement (36)(37)(38), sexual disorders (39), traumatic brain injury (31,40,41), depression and anxiety disorders (29,42,43) and is being explored for other neurological brain disorders (44)(45)(46). Zomorrodi and associates found that in volunteer participants tPBM at 810 nm induced significant EEG changes increasing the power of alpha, beta and gamma and decreasing lower frequencies in a blinded RCT.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Effective and Safe Novel Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder: Unilateral Transcranial Photobiomodulation

et al. 2021

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Background: The opioid epidemic is a global tragedy even with current treatments, and a novel, safe, and effective treatment would be welcomed. We report here our findings from our second randomized controlled trial to evaluate unilateral transcranial photobiomodulation as a treatment for opioid use disorder.Methods: We enrolled 39 participants with active opioid cravings at 2 sites, 19 received the active treatment which consisted of a 4-min twice weekly (every 3 or 4 days) application of a light-emitting diode at 810 nm with an irradiance of 250 mW/cm2 and a fluence of 60 J/cm2 to the forehead over either the left or right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex with a fluence to the brain of 2.1 J/cm2. Twenty participants received a sham treatment with the same device with foil over the bulb. The side of the treatment was based on Dual-Brain Psychology, which posits that one hemisphere is more affected by past maltreatments and is more prone to anxiety and drug cravings that the other hemisphere. We treated the hemisphere with the more positive hemispheric emotional valence (HEV) by 2 tests for HEV.Results: Our primary outcome was changes in pre-treatment opioid craving scale (OCS) minus baseline, and we found using a mixed model that the active group had a highly significant treatment * time benefit over the sham group, p < 0.0001, effect size at the last follow-up of 1.5. The active treatment benefited those not on buprenorphine as well as those not on it. The TimeLine Follow Back measure of opioid use was significantly better in the actively treated group, p = 0.0001, with an effect size of 0.45. We observed no adverse effects.Conclusion: Active unilateral transcranial photobiomodulation to the brain hemisphere with the better HEV was better than sham in the reduction of opioid cravings and opioid use to a very significant degree in a RCT of 39 participants at 2 independent sites. In the active group those on buprenorphine and those not on it both had improvements in cravings over the study. No adverse responses were reported in either group. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04340622.

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Effects of transcranial photobiomodulation with near‐infrared light on sexual dysfunction

Cited by 17 publications

References 24 publications

A Novel Treatment of Opioid Cravings With an Effect Size of .73 for Unilateral Transcranial Photobiomodulation Over Sham

A Novel Treatment of Opioid Cravings With an Effect Size of .73 for Unilateral Transcranial Photobiomodulation Over Sham

Transcranial Photobiomodulation (tPBM) With 1,064‐nm Laser to Improve Cerebral Metabolism of the Human Brain In Vivo

An Effective and Safe Novel Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder: Unilateral Transcranial Photobiomodulation

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