Effect of Helium-Neon Laser Irradiation on Hair Follicle Growth Cycle of Swiss Albino Mice

The study investigated the effects of helium-neon (He-Ne) laser irradiation on the hair follicle growth cycle in both testosterone-treated and untreated Swiss albino mice. Using histology and optical coherence tomography (OCT) to measure hair follicle length and the distribution of hair follicles across different growth phases, the researchers found a high positive correlation (R = 0.96) between the two methods. Despite this correlation, histological measurements showed hair follicles to be 1.6 times shorter than those measured by OCT. Importantly, He-Ne laser irradiation at approximately 1 J/cm^2 significantly increased the percentage of hair follicles in the anagen phase (p < 0.05), which indicates stimulated hair growth in both control and testosterone-treated mice. The study also validated the use of OCT as a reliable method to monitor hair follicle growth cycles, which could be beneficial for assessing treatments for hair follicle disorders or alopecia.