Laser therapy (LT) has been employed for treatment of oral mucositis (OM)due to its anti-inflammatory, analgesic and bio-stimulatory effects. This pilot study investigated the effect of LT in TR146 epithelial cell line, used to mimic oral mucosa,aimed at evaluating the expression of DEFB1, DEFB4, DEFB103 genes encoding for the human β-defensins 1, 2 and 3. In this cellular model LT decreased mRNA defensins' expression 30 minutes after irradiation but not 24 hours later, suggesting that LT is able to influence β-defensins production immediately after treatment, while its efficacy decreases over time.
