The effectiveness of Transcranial Photobiomodulation therapy (tPBM) on reducing anxiety, depression, and opioid craving in patients undergoing methadone maintenance treatment: a double-blind, randomized, controlled trial.
Helya Helali, Nastaran Samani, Faraj Tabeie, Shiva Eiliaei, Ali Kheradmand
{"title":"The effectiveness of Transcranial Photobiomodulation therapy (tPBM) on reducing anxiety, depression, and opioid craving in patients undergoing methadone maintenance treatment: a double-blind, randomized, controlled trial.","authors":"Helya Helali, Nastaran Samani, Faraj Tabeie, Shiva Eiliaei, Ali Kheradmand","doi":"10.1186/s12888-025-06555-3","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The effects of tPBMT are from influencing compounds by triggering specific reactions, which stimulate Adenosine triphosphate biosynthesis and neurogenesis. According to these effects, tPBMT has been applied as a potential treatment for various neural-related diseases. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of tPBMT on reducing anxiety, depression, and opioid craving in patients undergoing MMT.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This randomized controlled clinical trial included two groups of substance-dependent patients undergoing MMT. They were randomly assigned to receive tPBMT or a sham tPBMT. The intervention group received PBM in the form of Light- Emitting Diodes (LEDs) for four minutes of light exposure at 810 nm wavelength producing 250 mW/cm<sup>2</sup> when applied to 4 mm skin depth (totaling 60 J/cm<sup>2</sup>) in both forehead locations. The levels of anxiety, depression, and opioid craving were compared between the two groups before and after the intervention, as well as at one-month and three-month follow-up assessments.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Both groups consisted of 32 (91.4%) males and 3 (8.6%) females, with the mean age of patients in the intervention group being 37.97 ± 10.58 years, and 39.66 ± 9.94 years in the control group (P = 0.495). There were no significant differences between the two groups in terms of depression, anxiety, and opioid craving scale scores before the intervention (p>0.05). However, the tPBMT group had statistically significant reductions in their scores compared to the sham tPBMT group. (p<0.05).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>tPBMT led to significant improvements in anxiety, depression, and opioid craving among individuals in MMT, and these improvements were sustained at one month and three months after treatment, indicating a long-lasting positive effect.</p><p><strong>Trial registration: </strong>Trial registration: IRCT code: IRCT20210502051162N1, Approval ID: IR.SBMU.MSP.REC.1400.111, registered on 01.06.2021.</p>","PeriodicalId":9029,"journal":{"name":"BMC Psychiatry","volume":"25 1","pages":"94"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4000,"publicationDate":"2025-02-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11792211/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"BMC Psychiatry","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-025-06555-3","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"PSYCHIATRY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: The effects of tPBMT are from influencing compounds by triggering specific reactions, which stimulate Adenosine triphosphate biosynthesis and neurogenesis. According to these effects, tPBMT has been applied as a potential treatment for various neural-related diseases. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of tPBMT on reducing anxiety, depression, and opioid craving in patients undergoing MMT.
Methods: This randomized controlled clinical trial included two groups of substance-dependent patients undergoing MMT. They were randomly assigned to receive tPBMT or a sham tPBMT. The intervention group received PBM in the form of Light- Emitting Diodes (LEDs) for four minutes of light exposure at 810 nm wavelength producing 250 mW/cm2 when applied to 4 mm skin depth (totaling 60 J/cm2) in both forehead locations. The levels of anxiety, depression, and opioid craving were compared between the two groups before and after the intervention, as well as at one-month and three-month follow-up assessments.
Results: Both groups consisted of 32 (91.4%) males and 3 (8.6%) females, with the mean age of patients in the intervention group being 37.97 ± 10.58 years, and 39.66 ± 9.94 years in the control group (P = 0.495). There were no significant differences between the two groups in terms of depression, anxiety, and opioid craving scale scores before the intervention (p>0.05). However, the tPBMT group had statistically significant reductions in their scores compared to the sham tPBMT group. (p<0.05).
Conclusion: tPBMT led to significant improvements in anxiety, depression, and opioid craving among individuals in MMT, and these improvements were sustained at one month and three months after treatment, indicating a long-lasting positive effect.
期刊介绍：
BMC Psychiatry is an open access, peer-reviewed journal that considers articles on all aspects of the prevention, diagnosis and management of psychiatric disorders, as well as related molecular genetics, pathophysiology, and epidemiology.
京公网安备 11010802042870号
京ICP备2023020795号-1
分享
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：
扫码关注我们
