Neonatal anoxia is one of the major causes of death or lifelong neurobehavioral and cognitive impairment. The brain damage is a process with multiple contributing mechanisms and pathways resulting in both early and delayed injury, but we can highlight the excitotoxicity, oxidative stress, and, mostly, the neuroinflammation, as underlying products of neonatal anoxia. Photo biomodulation is a poorly explored therapeutic strategy in central nervous system injuries, and the present model of rodent neonatal anoxia seems ideal for investigating the effects of photo modulation therapy on neuroinflammation triggered by oxygen deprivation at birth. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of photobiomodulation on the cytokines levels 24 hours after neonatal anoxia. Alterations resulting from photo modulation therapy were observed in the levels of cytokines IL-1ß, IL-4, and IL-17 in the hippocampus of rats submitted to neonatal anoxia. The Multiplex analysis showed changes in levels of certain cytokines that were not expected for the model in question, such as the reduction of IL-1ß in rats undergoing neonatal anoxia and the unchanging of TNF-α. Curiously, a decrease in IL-17 was observed in anoxia and photobiomodulation groups. It is not clear in the literature the peak of cytokines production after an oxygen deprivation event, and we suggest that the microglial response might have occurred previously. Additional experiments using different time points will be conducted to better explore the potential neuroprotective effects of photobiomodulation after neonatal anoxia.
