Effect of low intensity helium-neon (HeNe) laser irradiation on experimental paracoccidioidomycotic wound healing dynamics.

The effect of HeNe laser on the extracellular matrix deposition, chemokine expression and angiogenesis in experimental paracoccidioidomycotic lesions was investigated. At days 7, 8 and 9 postinfection the wound of each animal was treated with a 632.8 nm HeNe laser at a dose of 3 J cm(-2).

Effects of HeNe laser irradiation on experimental paracoccidioidomycotic lesions.

Paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM) is the most prevalent human mycosis in Latin America. The infection is thought to take place firstly in the lungs and then may disseminate to other organs and tissues. Treatment by currently available antifungals is lengthy, the drugs may have undesirable side effects, and some are costly.

Programmed cell death in thymus during experimental paracoccidioidomycosis.

Many works have shown that immunosuppressive effects induced by systemic mycosis can be related to primary lymphoid organ damage. Previous studies in our laboratory showed that Paracoccidioides brasiliensis was able to invade the thymus, inducing a severe atrophy with significant reduction of cortical area along with a loss of cortico-medullary boundary. The objective of the present study was to investigate whether thymic atrophy is caused by programmed cell death (PCD) and to examine the ultrastructural characteristics of the thymus in experimentally infected BALB/c mice.