Effects of Nonablative Er-YAG Laser on Human Endometrial Stromal Cells (hESCs): A Pilot Study.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the thermo-chemical effects of nonablative Er:YAG laser on human endometrial stromal cells (hESCs). MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this laboratory based study, for the hESCs cultures, endometrial tissue biopsy samples were obtained from three fertile women in the late proliferative phase. In this laboratory-based study, seven experimental groups were created: Estradiol (E(2)) group, E(2) + Sham (S) group, E(2) + P(4) group, E(2) + Laser (L) group, E(2) + P(4) + L group, hESC group and hESC+L group. Cell cultures reaching confluence on the matrigel-coated petri dishes in all groups were incubated for 12, 24, 48, and 72 h after laser irradiation, respectively. Nonablative Er:YAG laser irradiation was performed to the hESCs culture. The main outcome of this study involves assessing the alterations in MMP-2, TNF-α, IL-6, VEGF-A, and IGFBP-1 levels within conditioned media of hESC cultures subsequent to the Er:YAG laser irradiation. RESULTS: Median MMP-2 levels significantly differed between groups at the 12th, 24th, 48th, and 72nd hour (p = 0.012, p = 0.045, p = 0.021, and p = 0.032, respectively). All media of hESCs irradiated with Er-YAG laser had higher median MMP-2 values. At the 48th hour, the groups showed significant differences in terms of median TNF-α levels (p = 0.029), which were lower in the groups that received Er-YAG laser. At the 12th hour, median IL-6 levels differed significantly between the groups (p = 0.011), being higher in the groups that received Er-YAG laser. At the 72nd hour, lower median VEGF-A values were observed for the groups that received Er-YAG laser (p = 0.021). A statistically significant difference existed in terms of median IGFBP-1 levels between the groups at the 24th hour, with higher levels in the groups which received Er-YAG laser (p = 0.041). CONCLUSION: Our findings demonstrated that the non-ablative Er-YAG laser induces tissue remodeling, modulates immune responses by favoring Th2 cell activity and suppresses Th1 cell activity in hESCs. Additionally, it exerts favorable impact on decidualization.