Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Mar 19;24(1):101.
doi: 10.1186/s12883-024-03593-4.

Photobiomodulation combination therapy as a new insight in neurological disorders: a comprehensive systematic review

Narmin Farazi  1 , Hanieh Salehi-Pourmehr  2 , Fereshteh Farajdokht  1 , Javad Mahmoudi  1 , Saeed Sadigh-Eteghad  3
Affiliations

Photobiomodulation combination therapy as a new insight in neurological disorders: a comprehensive systematic review

Narmin Farazi et al. BMC Neurol. .

Erratum in

Abstract

Preclinical and clinical studies have indicated that combining photobiomodulation (PBM) therapy with other therapeutic approaches may influence the treatment process in a variety of disorders. The purpose of this systematic review was to determine whether PBM-combined therapy provides additional benefits over monotherapies in neurologic and neuropsychiatric disorders. In addition, the review describes the most commonly used methods and PBM parameters in these conjunctional approaches.To accomplish this, a systematic search was conducted in Google Scholar, PubMed, and Scopus databases through January 2024. 95 potentially eligible articles on PBM-combined treatment strategies for neurological and neuropsychological disorders were identified, including 29 preclinical studies and 66 clinical trials.According to the findings, seven major categories of studies were identified based on disease type: neuropsychiatric diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, ischemia, nerve injury, pain, paresis, and neuropathy. These studies looked at the effects of laser therapy in combination with other therapies like pharmacotherapies, physical therapies, exercises, stem cells, and experimental materials on neurological disorders in both animal models and humans. The findings suggested that most combination therapies could produce synergistic effects, leading to better outcomes for treating neurologic and psychiatric disorders and relieving symptoms.These findings indicate that the combination of PBM may be a useful adjunct to conventional and experimental treatments for a variety of neurological and psychological disorders.

Keywords: Combined therapies; Laser therapy; Neurological disorders; Photobiomodulation.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The PRISMA flowchart of the review selection process
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Risk of bias (RoB) assessment using Cochrane RoB tool (included CNS studies). Left panel shows RoB summary showing each RoB item for each included study. Right panel shows RoB graph showing each RoB item presented as percentages across all included studies. In this color-coded ranking, the green color represents a low RoB and red high RoB
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Risk of bias (RoB) assessment using Cochrane RoB tool (included PNS studies). Top panel shows RoB summary showing each RoB item for each included study. Bottom panel shows RoB graph showing each RoB item presented as percentages across all included studies. In this color-coded ranking, the green color represents a low RoB and red high RoB
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Feigin VL, Vos T, Nichols E, Owolabi MO, Carroll WM, Dichgans M, et al. The global burden of neurological disorders: translating evidence into policy. Lancet Neurol. 2020;19(3):255–265. doi: 10.1016/S1474-4422(19)30411-9. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Penzes P, Cahill ME, Jones KA, VanLeeuwen J-E, Woolfrey KM. Dendritic spine pathology in neuropsychiatric disorders. Nat Neurosci. 2011;14(3):285–293. doi: 10.1038/nn.2741. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Sanberg PR, Eve DJ, Cruz LE, Borlongan CV. Neurological disorders and the potential role for stem cells as a therapy. Br Med Bull. 2012;101(1):163–181. doi: 10.1093/bmb/lds001. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ebrahimi-Fakhari D, Wahlster L, McLean PJ. Protein degradation pathways in Parkinson’s disease: curse or blessing. Acta Neuropathol. 2012;124(2):153–172. doi: 10.1007/s00401-012-1004-6. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Hamblin MR. Shining light on the head: Photobiomodulation for brain disorders. BBA Clin. 2016;6:113–124. doi: 10.1016/j.bbacli.2016.09.002. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types