Effect of Laser and LED on Enzymatic Production of Ceramide

Innovative application of helium-neon laser: enhancing the germination of Adansonia digitata and evaluating the hepatoprotective activities in mice

The laser pretreatment of seed is drawing pronounced attention from the scientific community for its positive impact in boosting germination, seedling , and growth of plants. In this study, the laser pretreatment of Adansonia digitata (A. digitata) seeds was evaluated. Eight laser treatments were conducted at different powers, 10, 20, 40, and 80 mW, with the two-time interval for each power at 2 and 4 min. The outcomes indicated that the most efficient irradiation was 10 mW/2 min which induces the highest germination rate and polyphenolic contents for seeds. Based on these results, the animal experimental design was processed to assess the hepatoprotective activity of A. digitata extracts obtained through the optimum laser preillumination to enhance the resistance of liver damage in mice. The total phenol and flavonoid contents and the antioxidant properties of the methanolic extracts were estimated in vitro. The CCl4 was used to induce hepatotoxicity in mice. The animals were divided into five groups. The sera of the treated animals were used for the determination of transaminases, and the liver homogenates were used for the determination of antioxidant status, and further liver tissues were subjected to verify the anti-apoptotic effect of A. digitata methanolic extract. The in vivo results showed that the methanolic extract exposed to laser treatment at 10 mW/2 min provided better hepatoprotective capacity than the other treatments. Administration of A. digitata extract not only offered a significant decrease in liver enzyme activity but also markedly improved the antioxidant status and reduced the apoptotic progression induced by CCl4 toxicity in liver tissue.

He-Ne laser-induced improvement in biochemical, physiological, growth and yield characteristics in sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.)

The water-soaked seeds of sunflower were exposed to low power continuous wave He-Ne laser irradiation of energies 0, 100, 300 and 500 mJ to evaluate the effect on various biochemical, physiological, growth and yield parameters of sunflower. The experiments which consisted of four replicates arranged in a completely randomized design (CRD) were carried out under the greenhouse conditions. The physiological attributes like, photosynthetic rate (A), transpiration rate (E), intrinsic CO(2) concentration (C(i) ), stomatal conductance (g(s)), chlorophyll a and b contents, relative membrane permeability and leaf water (ψ(w)), osmotic (ψ(s)) and turgor (ψ(p)) potentials, relative water contents and leaf area increased significantly as compared to control due to He-Ne treatment of seeds. The activities of superoxide dismutase, peroxidase and catalases and contents of total soluble proteins, malondialdehyde, proline and leaf total phenolic also increased due to laser treatment. Significant increase in growth parameters of sunflower like shoot fresh and dry masses, root fresh and dry masses, root and shoot lengths, number of leaves per plant and stem diameter has also been observed. The contents of K, Ca and Mg in shoot and root were also increased and an overall increase of up to 28.12% was observed due to laser treatment.