Investigating the Protective Effects of Phototherapy and various drugs in Alzheimer Disease

Abstract

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a prevailing public health concern as it causes neuronal degeneration resulting in cognitive impairment and memory loss with epidemiology of twofold increase in every five years, which is predicted to double by 2060. There is no effective treatment exists currently which highlights the importance of development of a novel therapeutic mechanism to treat AD. In addition to it, various studies show that the medicines and therapies have been in practice, including phototherapy, which shows symptomatic improvement only. Therefore, this study evaluated the effectiveness of a combination of drugs and phototherapy on AlCl3 induced male Balb/c mice models of AD. A phototherapy device prototype, featuring variable wavelengths ranging from 400nm-750nm by using RGB LEDs and the ESP32 microcontroller is designed in this study. The software design is created with VERO and Platform IO, featuring an intuitive interface that can be accessed from any device on the local network. A 625nm wavelength light, targeting the mice brain, held 2-3cm above head was used for the phototherapy. Galantamine and Memantine drugs were also administered through intra-peritoneal route at the same time to investigate the combined effect of phototherapy and drugs. Behavioral assessments were performed to validate the enhancement in cognitive deficits and spatial learning and memory. Memantine and phototherapy combination treatment group analysis displayed increased locomotor activity, spatial memory and cognitive improvements thus indicating enhanced cognitive abilities and memory retention in object recognition, elevated plus maze, y-maze, morris water maze and open field assessments while comparing to the diseased and alone drugs group. Behaviour analysis were followed by the dissection of mice for histological analysis, including H&E staining of cerebral and hippocampal tissues to verify the presence of healthy neuronal cells. Histology revealed improved cell morphology in the combination treatment groups (phototherapy-drug) compared to administering drugs alone, signifying the neuroprotective role of phototherapy in combination, as a novel therapeutic approach. The findings of this study suggests the use of combination therapies in the treatment of AD along with other neurodegenerative diseases