Assessment of Cytokine-Mediated Signaling Pathway Dysregulation in Arm Skin After CO2 Laser Therapy

In 2019, a study involving 16 women who underwent CO2 laser treatment for photo aging found that the cytokine-mediated signaling pathway, a part of the immune system, was significantly affected by the treatment. The study identified 13 key genes, primarily related to interferons and the immune system, that were altered by the laser therapy. The most significant of these was the Interferon-induced protein with tetratricopeptide repeats 1 (IFIT1), which plays a crucial role in the body's natural response to stress, such as limiting hepatitis B virus replication and acting as a prognostic marker for local control in T1‐2 N0 breast cancer treated with breast‐conserving surgery and radiation therapy. The study concluded that the activation of the immune system, particularly the cytokine-mediated signaling pathway, is a common feature of laser application in treated skin.