Low-level Laser Therapy on Inflammatory Mediators During Chemotherapy-induced Oral Mucositis

A trained clinical member of the team who was blind to the randomization allocation scores the degree of OM, during the hospitalization, in accordance to the World Health Organization (WHO) mucositis scale as follow: grade 0, no signs or symptoms; grade 1, painless ulcers, erythema, or mild soreness; grade 2, painful erythema, edema, or ulceration but the patient is able to eat; grade 3, mucosal damage and the patient is able to ingest only liquids; and grade 4, severe mucosa damage and the patient requires parenteral or enteral support.

Saliva was collected in the morning, and patients were instructed to gargle with filtered water prior to collection. All the saliva produced in a 5-min interval was collected in a sterile tube. The saliva samples were then centrifuged at 1500 rpm for 10 min, and the total volumes measured with a micropipette. The supernatant was transferred to two other sterile tubes and a phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) solution (1: 1), containing protease inhibitors (0.1 mmol/1 EDTA, 0.001 mg/ml aprotinin A, and 0.05% Tween 20) which was added to one while the other maintained its pure saliva. All aliquots were frozen at -80°C to await analysis.