The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of varying levels of photobiostimulation treatment dosage on plasma -endorphin concentration in humans. The subjects of this study were 21 healthy men and women, who were students of the Department of Physical Therapy, College of Health Science, Seonam University. This study was performed from October 26, 1998 to November 5, 1998. All subjects were assigned to one of three groups: a 2.0 laser group, a 4.0 laser group, an 6.0 laser group. He-Ne laser (632.8 nm wave length) and infrared laser (820 nm wave length) of three different energy densities (2.0, 4.0, and 6.0 ) were applied on the Su-Sam-Ri (L I 10) and Hab-Gog (L I 4) of acupuncture points. Blood samples were taken at pre-treatment, 30 min's post-treatment and 60 min's post-treatment. The level of endorphin was measured by radio immuno assay. The data were analyzed by descriptive statistics and repeated measure two-way ANOVA. The results of this study were as follows: 1) The human plasma -endorphin concentrations were noted to significantly increase due to the energy densities of laser photobiostimulation (p<0.05). 2) The human plasma -endorphin concentrations were noted to significantly increase during the period after laser photobiostimulation (p<0.05).

Laser photobiostimulation (LPBS) is one of the recent additions to therapeutic procedures used in chronic pain management. Though widely used, a clear understanding of its mechanism of action was not disclosed. In addition, the energy density that produces maximal benefit has not yet been established. The purposes of this study were to determine the effects of LPBS on pain relief in rat and to determine treatment dosage. Eight, 8-week old female, Sprague-Dawley rats were employed. All subjects were assigned to one of four groups: a sham laser group, a 0.4 laser group, a 2.0 laser group, and a 6.0 laser group. Ga-As laser (904 nm wavelength) of three different energy densities (0.4, 2.0, 6.0 ) was applied on a tail acupuncture point and tail-flick latencies were measured five times pre-and post-treatment as following schedules: 30 minutes, 1 hour. 24 hours. 48 hours, and 7 days later. An increase in pain threshold was demonstrated following LPBS, employing rat tail-flick test. LPBS of 2.0 produced hypoalgesia of rapid onset and short duration (1 hour, 24 hours) while the response to 6.0 was delayed and lasted longer (48 hours, 7 days). LPBS of 0.4 did not produce any hypoalgesia.