The mechanistic basis of chromotherapy: Current knowledge and future perspectives.

Chromotherapy is a method of treatment that uses wavelengths in the visible region for curing different diseases and medical conditions. Recent advances in photobiology and the speciality of Photobiomodulation are uncovering the cellular and molecular effects of visible range electromagnetic radiation. We discuss the reported effects of visible range radiation on cells (in vitro and in vivo) and the attempted explanations of the underlying processes with regard to therapeutic effects. Some of the important advances in this area are reviewed, especially the effects of visible light on bacteria, enzymes and the use of visible light for wound healing and treatment of psychiatric diseases for the purpose of explaining the therapeutic implications of chromotherapy. We highlight the correlation of wavelengths used between recently uncovered mechanisms of photobiology and conventional chromotherapy. The elucidation of mechanisms of the cellular and molecular interaction of light will help in deciphering the scientific background of chromotherapy and will help in the application of this alternative therapeutic treatment to many other diseases.

Application of red light phototherapy in the treatment of radioactive dermatitis in patients with head and neck cancer.

BACKGROUND: To observe the effect of red light phototherapy (RLPT) on radioactive dermatitis (RD) caused by radiotherapy in patients with head and neck cancer (HNC). METHODS: Sixty patients with HNC admitted to our hospital were randomly divided into experimental group and control group, 30 patients in each group. The control group received routine daily care during radiotherapy treatment. In the experimental group, in addition to routine daily care during radiotherapy treatment, photon therapy apparatus RLPT was added, 10 min/time, 2 times/day, and lasted until the end of radiotherapy. The pain and conditions of the patients' skin were assessed daily, and the skin pain and dermatitis grades of the two groups were compared. RESULTS: In terms of the reaction degree of RD, experimental group was mainly grade 0-2, and control group was mainly grade 2-3, with a significant difference (P < 0.05). In terms of skin pain, according to the pain records at week 2, 3, and 4, the pain degree increased with time. However, the score of wound pain in experimental group was significantly lower than that in control group, and there was a significant difference between the two groups (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The application of RLPT in the treatment of RD can help accelerate wound healing and significantly shorten healing time. It can not only reduce wounds pain of patients, promote inflammation and ulcer healing, but also ensure the smooth progress of patients' radiotherapy and improve their quality of lives, which is worth popularization and application in the clinical practice.

Improved cognitive morning performance in healthy older adults following blue-enriched light exposure on the previous evening.

OBJECTIVES: Exposure to light can have acute alerting and circadian phase-shifting effects. This study investigated the effects of evening exposure to blue-enriched polychromatic white (BEL) vs. polychromatic white light (WL) on sleep inertia dissipation the following morning in older adults. METHODS: Ten healthy older adults (average age = 63.3 yrs; 6F) participated in a 13-day study comprising three baseline days, an initial circadian phase assessment, four days with 2-h evening light exposures, a post light exposure circadian phase assessment and three recovery days. Participants were randomized to either BEL or WL of the same irradiance for the four evening light exposures. On the next mornings at 2, 12, 22 and 32 min after each wake time, the participants completed a 90-s digit-symbol substitution test (DSST) to assess working memory, and objective alertness was assessed using a wake EEG recording. DSST and power density from the wake EEG recordings were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: DSST performance improved with time awake (p < 0.0001) and across study days in both light exposure groups (p < 0.0001). There was no main effect of group, although we observed a significant day x group interaction (p = 0.0004), whereby participants exposed to BEL performed significantly better on the first two mornings after light exposures than participants in WL (post-hoc, p < 0.05). On those days, the BEL group showed higher EEG activity in some of the frequency bins in the sigma and beta range (p < 0.05) on the wake EEG. CONCLUSION: Exposure to blue-enriched white light in the evening significantly improved DSST performance the following morning when compared to polychromatic white light. This was associated with a higher level of objective alertness on the wake EEG, but not with changes in sleep or circadian timing.

Laser and light-based treatments of acne and acne scarring.

The treatment of acne and acne scarring with lasers and light-based and energy-based technologies has become an integral component of our therapeutic arsenal. Lasers including infrared wavelengths and pulsed dye lasers; light devices including blue light, red light, and broadband light; and photodynamic therapy with aminolevulinic acid and methylaminolevulinic acid have been shown to be effective in the treatment of acne vulgaris. The optimal outcomes are achieved with photodynamic therapy combined with medical therapy. Acne scarring has been best treated with lasers, including nonablative infrared lasers, fractional nonablative and ablative laser resurfacing, and most recently needle-based radiofrequency devices.

Assessment of dietary exposure and effect in humans: The role of NMR.

In human nutritional science progress has always depended strongly on analytical measurements for establishing relationships between diet and health. This field has undergone significant changes as a result of the development of NMR and mass spectrometry methods for large scale detection, identification and quantification of metabolites in body fluids. This has allowed systematic studies of the metabolic fingerprints that biological processes leave behind, and has become the research field of metabolomics. As a metabolic profiling technique, NMR is at its best when its unbiased nature, linearity and reproducibility are exploited in well-controlled nutritional intervention and cross-sectional population screening studies. Although its sensitivity is less good than that of mass spectrometry, NMR has maintained a strong position in metabolomics through implementation of standardisation protocols, hyphenation with mass spectrometry and chromatographic techniques, accurate quantification and spectral deconvolution approaches, and high-throughput automation. Thus, NMR-based metabolomics has contributed uniquely to new insights into dietary exposure, in particular by unravelling the metabolic fates of phytochemicals and the discovery of dietary intake markers. NMR profiling has also contributed to the understanding of the subtle effects of diet on central metabolism and lipoprotein metabolism. In order to hold its ground in nutritional metabolomics, NMR will need to step up its performance in sensitivity and resolution; the most promising routes forward are the analytical use of dynamic nuclear polarisation and developments in microcoil construction and automated fractionation.

[Contemporary potential of nonmedical treatment in ophthalmology].

The article covers treatment results of 90 patients with primary glaucoma simplex of stage 1 and 2 (137 eyes). The authors proved that using a specified magnetotherapy method, when compared to regular medical therapy, causes more fast and marked regression in clinical symptoms and improvement of vision in patients with primary glaucoma simplex of stages 1 and 2.

Blue light reduces organ injury from ischemia and reperfusion.

Evidence suggests that light and circadian rhythms profoundly influence the physiologic capacity with which an organism responds to stress. However, the ramifications of light spectrum on the course of critical illness remain to be determined. Here, we show that acute exposure to bright blue spectrum light reduces organ injury by comparison with bright red spectrum or ambient white fluorescent light in two murine models of sterile insult: warm liver ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) and unilateral renal I/R. Exposure to bright blue light before I/R reduced hepatocellular injury and necrosis and reduced acute kidney injury and necrosis. In both models, blue light reduced neutrophil influx, as evidenced by reduced myeloperoxidase (MPO) within each organ, and reduced the release of high-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1), a neutrophil chemotactant and key mediator in the pathogenesis of I/R injury. The protective mechanism appeared to involve an optic pathway and was mediated, in part, by a sympathetic (ß3 adrenergic) pathway that functioned independent of significant alterations in melatonin or corticosterone concentrations to regulate neutrophil recruitment. These data suggest that modifying the spectrum of light may offer therapeutic utility in sterile forms of cellular injury.

[The application of chromo- and laserotherapy for the treatment of the patients presenting with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and concomitant arterial hypertension].

This article gives evidence of the effectiveness of chromo- and laser therapy (using infrared and green wavelenth radiation) in combination with basal pharmacotherapy in the patients presenting with combined pathology. The analysis of the data obtained indicates that the proposed approach makes it possible to accelerate normalization of the clinical characteristics, reduce arterial pressure, improve the parameters of external respiration, and increase the duration of remission periods.

New advances in countercurrent chromatography and centrifugal partition chromatography: focus on coupling strategy.

Countercurrent chromatography (CCC) is an attractive separation method because the analytes are partitioned between two immiscible liquid phases avoiding problems related to solid stationary phase. In recent years, this technique has made great progress in separation power and detection potential. This review describes coupling strategies involving high speed CCC (HSCCC) or centrifugal partition chromatography (CPC). It includes on-line extraction-isolation, hyphenation with mass spectrometry (MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) detectors, multidimensional CCC (MDCCC), two-dimensional CCC (2D-CCC), on-line coupling with liquid chromatography (LC), and biological tests, and innovative off-line developments. The basic principles of each method are presented and applications are summarized.

Inference on periodicity of circadian time series.

Estimation of the period length of time-course data from cyclical biological processes, such as those driven by the circadian pacemaker, is crucial for inferring the properties of the biological clock found in many living organisms. We propose a methodology for period estimation based on spectrum resampling (SR) techniques. Simulation studies show that SR is superior and more robust to non-sinusoidal and noisy cycles than a currently used routine based on Fourier approximations. In addition, a simple fit to the oscillations using linear least squares is available, together with a non-parametric test for detecting changes in period length which allows for period estimates with different variances, as frequently encountered in practice. The proposed methods are motivated by and applied to various data examples from chronobiology.

Chromotherapy of macular degeneration with transitions lenses and green-yellow medical filters and special programme for psychoorganic disturbances.

Optical spectrum of the sunlight consists of visible or chromatic spectrum, with the range of wavelengths of electromagnetic vibrations from 7700 to 3900 AU, and the invisible spectrum: infrared and ultraviolet. Chromatic spectrum gives rise to the sensation of colour, capable for simulating specialized retinal photoreceptors and is perceptible as light. This rule of perception of the particular range of the optical spectrum goes mainly for man, while particular deviations, more or less, are applicable to the rest of animal and plant life. The optical part of the spectrum belongs to nonionizing radiation. It created the life on the Earth, maintaining it nowadays and even threatening the human organ of vision, because the retina had not been yet adequately accommodated through evolution with its photoreactive metabolism. Human retina is very sensitive about possible harmful influence of ultraviolet and blue light even today in evolution, but also phototoxic on complete strong visible light. In their clinical and experimental work on animals, the authors prove with their own patent (P 20020077A)-Vojnikovic B&D, and in collaboration with Essilor Optic Austria GmbH, that particular medical filters in the range of green-yellow colour especially (565 to 570 nm), and in combination with "Transitions" successfully threat macular degeneration-AMD, slowing down its progression and having positive psychoorganic effect on the depressive mood of such patients with threatened sight. Full attention has been paid to the design of medical filter, so the periphery of the lens plays a positive role in blood concentration of melatonin, while the central part stimulates the sight and the concentration of serotonine. Thus the physiological balance of melatonin and serotonin and the stability of psychophysical disturbances have been achieved.

Solar spectral lines ("solar halo")--healing or harmful for the retina?

The sungazing method has been known for thousands of years as healing method based on chromotherapeutic principle. Our examinations on the island of Rab show that it is acceptable only if applied 10 min before the sunset. Gazing has to be directed towards the green-yellow part of the spectrum, since the remaining part of the sun halo contains harmful energy. However, authors suggest that it would be preferable to use spectacles with medical filters transmitting wavelight of green-yellow colour, especially for treatment of macular degeneration.

Antinociceptive effects of color polarized light in animal with formalin test.

Our recent results show the efficacy of pain suppression by exposure of antinociceptive acupuncture points (APs) to white polarized (P) light. But it is known that white light contains electromagnetic waves of different length (colors) and, possibly, not all of them produce a similar effect. There are no comparative data about analgesic affects of the different colors of P light now. The purpose of this study was to clear up a question if analgesic effects of low-intensive P light depend on the color of light/wavelength. Formalin-induced pain behavior (licking of the painful area) was tested in control mice and mice exposed to one of the color of P light (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet) on the painful area or AP E-36. Exposure of the painful area or AP E-36 to color P light evoked a statistically significant decrease of the licking time in mice to 31.5-64.1% and 36.1-54.4% respectively. The red light was the most effective for pain behavior depression, analgesia averaged 64.1% and 54.4% accordingly. The analgesic effects of red light in compare to three "cold" colors (blue, green, and violet) and white light was more pronounced in case of its application on the painful area than on AP E-36. In conclusion, the intensity of analgesic effects of P lights strongly depends on its color (wavelength).

Uso terapéutico del color como método tradicional / Therapeutic use of color as a traditional method

La terapia por el color es un método tradicional natural y las enfermedades se deben a desequilibrios de un determinado color del espectro, en el organismo humano, donde cada color tiene un efecto compensador para conseguir el equilibrio orgánico. Teniendo en cuenta todos estos aspectos acerca del efecto del color en sus múltiples acciones, realizamos un ensayo clínico en el que se estudiaron 80 pacientes de un área de salud del policlínico "Wilfredo Santana Rivas" de La Habana del Este, con el objetivo de identificar cuál es el color responsable del equilibrio energético en el organismo; identificar cuál es el color deficitario en los pacientes, con alteraciones en su estado emocional y comprobar los resultados obtenidos en la terapia con el uso del color en la ropa y en los alimentos, después de haber realizado un test visual de equilibrio por los colores. Fueron evaluados durante las 4 semanas que duró el experimento. El método estadístico utilizado fue la prueba de chi cuadrado y se llegó a las siguientes conclusiones: el equilibrio energético del organismo lo constituyó el color opuesto al que les gusta y el que les disgusta en orden de frecuencia. El color deficitario en los pacientes con alteración de su estado emocional lo constituyó el azul, el verde cuando hay ansiedad y el rojo cuando se está deprimido(AU)

Color therapy is a natural traditional method and diseases are caused by unbalances in a certain color of the spectrum in the human organism, where each color has a compensating effect to attain the organic balance. Taking into consideration all these aspects about the effect of color in its multiple actions, we conducted a clinical trial in which 80 patients from a health area of "Wilfredo Santana Rivas" Polyclinic, in Eastern Havana, were studied aimed at identifying the color in charge of the energetic balance in the organism and the deficient color in those patients with emotional disorders and to verify the results obtained in the therapy with the use of color in clothes and food, after having made a visual test of balance by colors. They were evaluated during the 4 weeks of the experiment. The statistical method used was the chi square test and it was concluded that the energetic balance of the organism was composed of the color opposed to the one they like and the one they dislike in order of frequency. The deficient color in those patients with alteration of their emotional state was the blue color, the green color when they were anxious and the red color when they were depressed(AU)